Night Rider
by RosieStars
Summary: Seventeen years ago, a boy was taken from Berk by dragons. Raised as one of them, he is known as the Night Rider. He's wanted as a traitor to mankind. Taking him down would give you the same social status as taking down a Night Fury, maybe even more. But when Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III finds him, he's not what he thinks. In fact, there's a lot more to him than meets the eye.
1. Chapter 1

It was just like any other night. Her majesty wanted more. It didn't matter what it was as long as it satisfied her pit of a stomach. The dragons flew out to the usual markets, resulting in an unwanted battle with the humans. Yet they'd rather die at the hands of man than to meet their queen's jaws. Being the strongest of the group, the Night Fury had to lead her fellow reptiles. The island they were to raid next was unlike any other. This island held a village of highly experienced dragon killing Vikings, the most stubborn of the human species.

Deep down, the Night Fury leading wanted it to end. The raids, their mistress, everything. She had recently become a mother, with two hatchlings. Or at least she used to have two. One of her young ones had irritated their queen with his sudden appearance while playing with the other hatchlings. She ate him. The Mother Night Fury's heart had been torn apart by that. That's why she needed out, before the Queen thought about eating her only hatchling left.

Her kind was going extinct. There were only a few of them left. Although they were one of the more intelligent, strong and stealthy of reptiles, many humans hunted them to become famous, or other dragons felt threatened by them. The only reason she was still safe was because of the Queen's control over her and by keeping out of the humans' range.

The raid was a hassle as usual. The Vikings swung their weapons, attacking any dragons that tried to make off with their food supplies. Dragons clawed and slashed their jaws. It was all chaos. The Mother Night Fury was in the sky, aiming her plasma blasts at the boulder and net throwing weapons. She never missed her targets. As she continued her mission, a small wail echoed from within the forest. Curious, she followed the noise to a clearing. In that clearing was a female human, her body lying unconscious on the ground. She had been struck from behind by a dragon, a Monstrous Nightmare as the humans called them.

He stood above her, his scales ablaze with rage. The Night Fury knew him well, well enough to know that he hated humans with a passion, especially those in this village. Killing Monstrous Nightmares were symbols of being a dragon killer. His kind was killed more here than anywhere else. Her eyes scanned the clearing when she spotted it. A human hatchling wrapped in animal furs lay a few feet away from its mother.

" _Stop, Nightmare,"_ she ordered the other dragon. " _This human has a hatchling."_

" _So did some of my kind, but that didn't stop them!"_ the Monstrous Nightmare roared.

The Night Fury shook her head. He truly had every reason to hate humans more than most dragons indeed, but what would this solve? Killing a defenseless mother and orphaning her hatchling? The dragon approached the little one. It was plump, small and adorable. For a moment, it stopped crying, looking into her eyes with its sky blue ones. He then laughed, reaching up for the Night Fury. At that moment, she grew attached to it.

 _"Leave her,"_ the Night Fury repeated. _"Killing her while down will not be fair, especially while defenseless."_

With a huff, the Nightmare flew away.

Taking the human hatchling into her paw, she began to take flight. The sun was beginning to rise, and they needed to head home. As she led her group back, she was given questionable looks from her fellow comrades about the hatchling, but none spoke against it. They glided through the never-ending sea of mist where rocks grew from the chilling waters and men lost their lives.

Many tried to find their home, most likely to destroy them. Yet of course, they always failed. Their home was a large island where a mountain stood high and strong. Inside was where they remained in the tunnels while their mistress rested within the heart of it. Once they entered, they dropped their stolen and hunted prey into the crimson pit. The Night Fury didn't need to deliver any of the sort but a report of the raids, most likely who survived and who didn't. When one has been lost, the Queen used her mind control in to call in another to replace the fallen.

" _Nadder,"_ the Night Fury whispered to her friend. She too had fallen victim to losing a hatchling to the queen. She trusted her more than anyone on this island.

 _"Yes, Fury?"_

The Night Fury had the Deadly Nadder take her new foundling, knowing full well that the queen would not hesitate to try and devour it.

 _"Fury, report!"_ the queen demanded.

Flying over to where the queen was, the Night Fury recited, _"Two Gronkles, four Zipplebacks, and five Nadders, your Highness."_

The Queen sniffed the air. She smelled a human in their midst.

" _Fury, why is there a little human in my Kingdom?"_ she demanded.

Thinking quickly, the Night Fury came up with a lie. If she told her the real reason why, she'd eat it for sure.

" _A new recruit, ma'am."_

 _"Recruit? A human?"_

 _"Yes," the Night Fury continued."What better way to raid a human village when you have one of their own attacking alongside us? The human will know what we don't. It will help us with battle strategy, survival, and most of all, more meals for her Highness to dine on."_

Her Highness thought about this. Her eyes looked the Fury over for any signs of a lie. _"This wouldn't happen to be something about your loss of that annoying hatchling, would it not?"_

 _"No, ma'am,"_ the Fury answered.

With that, she agreed to let it stay as long as it served her.

After that, the Night Fury took her new hatchling to her den where her son rested in the warmth of a burned rock. He sensed his mother coming in and stretched before he ran to meet her. He stopped suddenly when he saw his new sibling. Gently, she placed it on the den floor, allowing it to crawl towards its new brother. At first, her son was skeptical of the new arrival, but when the little one reached out its little paw, her son sniffed it before purring and rubbing his head against it. The new addition let out a little noise, a sign of happiness.

Picking it up, the Mother Night Fury went to her nest to sleep. Both her little ones fell asleep in an instant by each other's side. She knew then that they'd be the best of siblings.

She could only hope they'd protect each other, for she worried she might not be around for them in the future.


	2. Chapter 2

The night was coming to a close as the sun began to rise. The village below slept soundlessly in their houses. In the shadows hid a Night Fury, a human waiting beside it. He was dressed in armor made of both leather and fur. A hood and a mask covered his face, while he watched the village with sky blue eyes. A fire burned in them, fueled by the hatred of these humans. Their mistress was growing restless, more demanding for everything and everyone. Most of their comrades had been lost to the ones they served. The only way to survive was to bring back good amounts of game.

His team of warriors was ready.

 _"Are you ready?"_ he asked his brother. The two were the leaders of this hunt. The dragon was their weapons destroyer, while the human was the protector of his brethren. They were the most skilled out of those here.

 _"Let's get this over with,"_ his brother agreed _. "Oh, and Night, remember…"_ The dragon gave him a bored yet warning look.

 _"I know, don't get too carried away,"_ grumbled Night, rolling his eyes. He couldn't help it. Sometimes he got so angry when face-to-face with these humans, remembering everything they'd done to his family and dragons in general. The Night Fury that had taken him in seventeen years ago, his mother, had been shot down and wounded by the humans in this very village. She just barely made it back to the nest and died despite everything Night had done to save her.

He could still remember how he wanted to murder every single human on the island that day. But his brother had stopped him, telling him that it wouldn't fix anything. Night's brother, like his mother, wished that there were peace between dragons and humans, but Night knew better. There was too much bad blood between them for things to ever be peaceful.

The Night Fury let out a roar that echoed throughout their part of the island to the others. Immediately, the villagers emerged from their nests, ready to fight. Night partly shared his brother's views that it would be so much easier if they didn't have to fight, but they wouldn't give them a chance to explain why they were doing this. Then again, he would be upset, too, if someone were to raid his home and steal his supply of food. But the Queen demands for it.

The battle was as wild as the last one. It was always the same routine. They raid, they fight, some of them were slain, and they were still able to capture some game. The humans were just as stubborn as they were, and they refused to back down no matter how many times this had happened.

Night mounted on top of his brother's back as he soared through the dark sky. Like always, his plasma blasts never missed his targets. Night kept close watch over everything that was happening. Then he noticed a Nightmare about to be killed by a large (no surprise there) villager.

 _"There!"_ Night shouted, pointing to where he wished to go.

 _"I see them. Get ready!"_ his brother said.

With a swift motion, the Fury brothers were above them. The dragon flipped upside down, allowing Night to fall down to the earth. Wind whistled in his ears as he plummeted. He loved the feeling of the wind, how free it made him feel. He could imagine there was no evil queen, no dragons struggling to survive, no killing, and no more raids. But when reality came back, he knew it was just a dream that they could never even hope to accomplish.

Out of his thoughts, he landed perfectly between both dragon and man. His sword was pulled from its sheath and blocking the man's death blow.

 _"I'm indebted to you, Night,"_ the Nightmare said before crawling off.

"Why?" the man asked. Night barely knew what these humans were saying as he had grown up learning the dragons' language, but he had heard that question enough times to know the meaning of it. "You're human, but you work along with these beasts!"

Night remained silent, glaring back at the man who stood waiting for an answer. The man let out a battle cry as he lunged at him. Night blocked and dodged each blow. Sometimes, he was glad for being so skinny. People normally underestimated him at first glance, but when he pulled out his sword of Gronkle Iron, they thought twice. Many even tried to challenge him to become famous.

The man's attention was suddenly averted. "Hiccup!" Taking advantage, Night knocked him to the ground, sword at his throat, a cold, unforgiving look in his eyes.

Then it occurred to him. This man must've had a hatchling. Why else would it matter so much about a random boy? On any other occasion, Night would've slit the man's throat, but then he remembered how he felt once his mother had died at the hands of these creatures. If he killed this man, that would make him just as bad as them.

Still, Night made sure to scratch the side of the man's neck with his sword, not enough to be harmful but enough to leave a scar. Then he pulled his knife back, his eyes delivering the message he didn't know the words to say. _Next time you cross my path, I won't hesitate._

Before the man could recover from his shock of being spared, Night ran off through the warring of man and beast, the burning nests, and the villagers running with buckets of water to put out the fire. He didn't let himself feel sorry for the trouble he was causing; they needed to save their own skins from their Majesty's appetite. Most of the dragons were begging to take off. Time to go

 _"Night!"_ a Nadder called from above. He was high enough for Night to hop onto his back. Just as he was about to leap, he was suddenly brought down. An axe was brought against his neck. _Not her again._ Sure enough, it was the annoying blonde who tried to take his head every chance she got. She was about 2 years younger than him, and he kept wondering when she'd give up already.

She said something, but he didn't understand it. His human vocabulary was limited after all. Although from her tone, he had to guess that it wasn't nice.

 _"That's cute, but no,"_ Night shot back. Sure, maybe they didn't understand it, but he didn't care. She gave him a confused look, and he thrust the hilt of his sword into her abdomen. She gasped in shock and pain as he sprinted to the waiting dragon.

Just as the girl was about to make another attempt, the Nadder was ready and sent his poisonous spokes at her. She dodged, and Night hopped on his friend's back to freedom, or doom in his case.

Once they were far enough from the island, Night searched among the dragons until he was reunited with his Night Fury brother.

 _"How many?"_ Night asked.

 _"Ten sheep, a yak, and a few barrels of fish," his brother replied._

 _"Loses?"_

 _"Two Nadders, a Zippleback, and a Nightmare."_

Night's heart grew heavy at the news. He should've been able to help. He was their protector. Those humans were taking away more and more of his family every raid.

 _"Don't be so hard on yourself. We're prepared for this,"_ the Night Fury assured him.

 _"You hate it, too, though."_ Night pulled off his hood, and he stared at the horizon as they started to approach their island.

 _"But what can we do about it?"_ his brother shot back. " _We've been at war for three centuries. Sure, we don't all hate them as much as humans hate us. But a war so long filled with nothing but vengeance and hate, how can we turn it positive?"_

 _"I don't think that's possible,"_ Night said coldly. _"I just said I wished this didn't happen as much as it did. I hate those humans more than they hate us."_

 _"What about your parents?"_

 _"My mother was the one who raised me, and she was killed,"_ growled Night _. "If I had my way, I'd make all of them pay for what they did."_

For once, his brother had nothing to say, and Night was glad for that. It just wasn't possible to turn a three _-_ centuries-old hatred the exact opposite. No one on either side was open to change. And even if they were, no one could change that much.

When they made it back home, they were right on time for breakfast. Every one of them was hoping they weren't a part of it. The Fury brothers watched with hope as their brethren dropped the food into the Queen's dinning hole. Night scanned the line to make sure everyone had a large amount or size to give to her Highness. Only one stood out, once again, to his dismay. A Gronkle, a strong, gentle, but slow creature. Capturing food and fighting wasn't easy when you're slow.

The Gronkle dropped a small sheep in, and by small, it means skinny. It was barely more than a sickly bag of bones. Everyone cowered behind the rock columns, knowing full well what was coming next. A large snout emerged from the eerie hole. It opened its jaws to show large teeth. In an instant, the Gronkle was eaten whole.

 _"NIGHT! FURY!"_ the queen roared.

The Fury brothers flew out from their spot. She scowled at the two of them for such a lowly meal. Then she groaned with annoyance at yet another loss once Night gave her his report.

 _"I should've eaten you when I had the chance all those years ago!"_ she screamed at him. _"Lucky for you, I didn't because of that Night Fury!"_

Night took the scolding, but it was hard to stay calm at the mention of his mother. She passed away five years ago. Her injuries had been too severe for her to last through the night. That was the day his hatred for humans began. And it grew more and more each day.

After being scolded, both of them went to their nest. It rested in the far back of the mountain. All was dark until Night had his brother light up several torches. The cave used to be plain until he thought in human tools. At times, he was an inventor of sorts, resulting in many of his weapons. Being the only human among an island full of dragons wasn't easy, so he had to learn to take care of himself at a young age. Reaching his desk, Night plopped down on his stool. His body was tired from today's activities and stress filled his tired muscles.

 _"Don't let her words get to you, Night,"_ his brother said as he went to lie in their nest.

 _"I'm not,"_ sighed Night. _"Let's get some rest. Then we can get breakfast later."_

With that, he crawled next to his brother and in an instant, fell into a deep sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Hiccup frowned as he got berated once again for being out during a dragon raid instead of inside the forge with Gobber, or at least inside the house. At this point, he just decided to tune his father out. Like he didn't feel guilty enough. Because Stoick had been distracted by him, he was this close to being murdered by the Night Rider as everyone called him.

Astrid was furious and snapping at everyone in sight because the Night Rider had escaped her once again. She was determined to kill him herself. Hiccup didn't know why she still bothered at this point. But then again, Vikings were stubborn.

Berk's supply of food had been snatched once again, and the Night Rider had helped them. Why? Hiccup had heard everyone ask that about him more than once. To this day, no one had an answer. He was human too, so why did he help the enemy against his own? Hiccup remembered the shock that had descended upon Berk the first time the Night Rider came to the island with the dragons six years ago.

The dragons were more savage on that raining night. A storm was coming in, but that didn't seem to stop them from raiding the village. The rain made the ground difficult to stand on and the harsh rain made it hard to see. The dragons knew this would make their jobs easier. They were winning, and the Vikings couldn't let them. They fought like mad men.

Despite Hiccup wanting to help, due to both his size and him being too young at only nine, he wasn't allowed to fight alongside everyone else. Instead, he was to wait with the younger children and the other older kids. They were all hidden in a little hut, waiting for both the storm and the raid to be over. That was when the door was bashed in by a Monstrous Nightmare. Its eyes were filled with rage, heat radiating from its body.

Some cowered in fear, but the others stood ready for battle. Hiccup attempted to, but stumbled under the weight of the shield in his hands. Either way, he knew none of them had a chance. Only the best Vikings can kill a Monstrous Nightmare. They weren't even close.

A growl came from behind the beast as the fire on its skin began to cool. A small figure, only a few inches taller than Hiccup, came forth. His body was drenched, his hair covering his eyes. He dressed in black, so dark it blended in with the night. He was skinny, as if he rarely ate. The monster growled at the boy, but he didn't flinch. He just stood there as if in deep thought.

After a moment, the boy responded with an inhuman growl, a bark, and a snort. Both argue. Hiccup was confused, as were the others. He was pretty sure that for once, they were thinking on the lines of the same thing. _Why weren't they going at each other, and more importantly, who is this boy? He looks human but understands the beast? Is that even possible?_

Hiccup stood on his tiptoes to see above the heads of the taller kids. The boy pointed at them and swapped it across with a shake of his head. In an instant, Hiccup understood. The boy was telling the dragon not to harm them.

With a growl and a bow of his head, the monster left to terrorize the other villagers.

Deep down, it was obvious that no one trusted the strange boy. He didn't seem normal. Astrid, only nine as well at the time, lunged at the boy even though others protested. Little did she know he had a sword on his person. With one swift movement, he was able to block her attack. When her axe came in contact with his weapon, its blade broke in two.

Everyone stepped back in surprise, but Hiccup tried to get a closer look. While everyone was shocked and maybe a little scared, he was in awe. No one had been able to deflect Astrid Hofferson's attacks.

Astrid became enraged, and continued her assault, but it was like he knew when and where she was aiming at.

"Who are you!?" she yelled at him. He didn't reply. "Answer me!"

He tilted his head to the side in confusion. As if he didn't understand. His eyes were as blue as the sky. When Hiccup noticed them, he saw in those eyes curiosity, mystery, and sadness. Unlike Astrid, he didn't seem to want to hurt anyone. He was simply protecting himself.

He never answered, and he deflected Astrid's attacks one more time before running away. Determined to continue the fight, Astrid ran after him. Hiccup followed, but more out of curiosity than rage. The boy ran over to the edge of the island. Hiccup instantly grew worried. _Was he about to jump?_ With a single step, the boy plummeted. Hiccup waited to hear the _splat_ that would mean the boy's death, but he stopped suddenly in his tracks.

A dark figure flew into the sky. Hiccup stared in awe. The boy was flying, or so he thought at first glance. He was at a loss of words to see the strange boy on top of what looked like a Night Fury. Both the boy and the beast flew in the air as one as they joined the group of dragons flying away from the island.

"That child is a traitor to man," a voice growled. Hiccup looked up to see his father, Stoick the Vast, the chief of the Hairy Hooligan tribe.

Later on, Hiccup learned he was right. A human riding and helping the enemy counted them as a traitor. Astrid became obsessed with killing the Night Rider, and Hiccup became obsessed with him, too, but more in a way that was less violent. There were so many questions about him. Everyone said he was a traitor, but why? How? How did he come to be with them? Why was he still with them and not with his own kind? And why didn't the dragons kill him?

Dragons were said to always go for the kill. But if that was true, then why hadn't they killed the boy yet? It had been six years, and they hadn't killed him. If anything, the Night Rider was safe amongst them, considered one of their own.

Over the years, the Night Rider had become more violent. It seemed that while before, he tried to have the least amount of contact with humans as possible, he now took every opportunity to fight them, and kill them if they kept up the fight. He was a protector of dragons. Whenever he saw someone harming or killing a dragon, he did the same to them. Few had told of the Night Rider. Many don't live to tell the tale of having fought him.

Dragon hunters have nightmares of the Night Rider ever finding them. Those who had fought against the Night Rider and lived were usually left with permanent scars and injuries. Sometimes, they even gave up the dragon killing life out of fear of facing him again. If you lived to tell the tale, and weren't scarred, then that meant he must've really liked you.

He became a legend, a cautionary tale for any Viking or dragon hunter. Your only hope if you come face to face with the Night Rider: Hide and pray he doesn't find you. And if he does, pray that he kills you quickly.

To kill him would definitely give you the same social status as it would to kill a Night Fury, maybe even more. But everyone knew that the honor was reserved for Astrid Hofferson. Every single raid, she tried to attack him, and every single time, he escaped. Hiccup wondered when she'd finally give up.

Probably never, he decided.

If he was going to go through with the plan he thought up, then maybe that was a good thing. He wanted to finally be noticed and be seen as more than a screw-up. Taking down a Night Fury would definitely do that. But no one would believe him if were to tell them he killed a Night Fury. Not unless he had evidence.

After his dad walked off and he was left alone, Hiccup began to think. If he were to even try to kill that Night Fury, the Night Rider would probably kill him. To slaughter the Night Fury while he was still breathing would be like asking for death. So then there was another question. What was the Night Rider's weakness? Everyone has one. Then Hiccup remembered how close the Night Rider and Fury were, how they were in sync with each other. The solution was simple, and it killed two birds with one stone. You want to take down the Night Rider, take down the Night Fury.

"You're thinking. What is it this time?" Gobber asked, poking him with his hook hand.

Hiccup didn't answer, still deep in thought of how to exactly accomplish the idea he had in mind. Then it hit him. "Nothing," he said, starting to edge towards the forge. "I just got an idea."

"Oh no," sighed Gobber. Hiccup couldn't blame him. Most of his ideas concerning dragon killing ended in failure. But not this time. This time would work for sure.

"I'm flattered by your confidence in me," said Hiccup sarcastically before running off to the forge. Getting out a piece of paper, he started to make the blueprints for the invention he had in mind. This was going to work. Just this once, it had to work. This one time was all he needed.

"This time, this time for sure," Hiccup muttered to himself. He was finally going to prove he was a Viking once and for all.


	4. Chapter 4

Night's brother was once again in deep thought. You'd think he'd get used to it by now. He and Night were once again on another raid. It was the same routine; he damaged the weapons, Night rescued their fellow dragons, and they returned to their Highness when they finished.

Night heard his brother mumble something, and he sighed to himself. All he had to think about was if that blonde would try again to find him. For years, she'd been trying to take his head, the latest attempt being a few weeks ago. You think she'd show a little more gratitude to the person who spared her life six years ago. Back when he still believed peace was possible and felt sympathy for those Vikings. Seeing as the humans of this village were as stubborn as boars, he wouldn't be surprised if she hunted him for the rest of his life.

 _"Get your head out of the clouds, Brother,"_ Night told him.

 _"Hmm?"_ was his only response. Night sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. The two continued to fly around, destroying the weapons and watching over their kin.

What came next, not even Night saw coming.

 _"Net!"_ he cried out the minute he saw it coming their way.

Both dragon and human looked to see a net coming towards them. Next thing they knew, they were falling through the sky. The Night Fury's body crashed into trees, causing them to break under his weight. He tumbled along the ground before coming to a sudden halt. Pain ran through him from head to claw.

 _"Night?"_ he called out weakly. Turning his head, he saw his brother entangled with him. The boy's body was bruised, cut, and oozing out blood. The dragon attempted to break free but the net muzzled him. His claws were also trapped against his side so he couldn't claw his way out. They were trapped on the island, and he had a feeling that whoever shot them down would eventually come for them.

Hiccup watched as a shadow fell from the sky with a fatal screech following. He'd shot the net from the contraption he'd built, and he couldn't help but be filled with a sense of pride. "I hit it?" he questioned himself. "I hit it!"

During his celebration, a Monstrous Nightmare climbed over the cliff side without him knowing. "Did anybody see that?" A loud, crunching sound came from behind Hiccup. He turned around with a disappointed look. "Except for you?"

The teen ran, letting out a high pitch scream, and the dragon chased after them. At any other time, he would've been embarrassed that he sounded like a little girl, but that would come later.

The dragon shot liquid fire on either side of him. Hiccup darted behind a pole holding a high lantern for safety. The blast of fire hit the base of the pole, sending liquid fire on either side of him. The heat of the flames had him scared stiff. After the liquid fire stopped pouring over the sides, he inched his way to look around the burning post. Unfortunately, the long-nosed dragon's head came around the opposite direction.

Just as Hiccup turned his head the other way to see the dragon, his father, Stoick the Vast, slammed his stone hammer into the side of the dragon's nose. The dragon backed away and tried to blast him, but nothing but a splash of fire liquid was left.

"You're all out," Stoick mumbled. He threw a couple of punches at the dragon here and there, and with one last kick, scared the dragon into flying off.

Stoick then turned to the burning post Hiccup was hiding behind. The base had become weakened enough that the top half of the post crushed the base and started to tip, revealinge Hiccup now. The post fell over, sending the flaming lantern over the hill. Hiccup winced each time it hit something as he heard it hit three things on its way down.

"Sorry, Dad," Hiccup said, looking at Stoick.

The flaming lantern rolled over a net holding down dragons, releasing them with sheep and other livestock. All the dragons flew off with something in their claws. Meanwhile, Hiccup stood awkwardly in front of his dad and could feel everyone staring at him.

"Okay, but I hit a Night Fury," he told Stoick. Stoick ignored his comment, though, and grabbed Hiccup's arm and dragged him behind him.

"It's not like the last few times, Dad. I really, actually, hit it," Hiccup tried to explain. "It went down just off Raven's Point. Let's get a search party—"

"Stop!" Stoick yelled before calming down, turning to face Hiccup. "Just stop. Every time you step outside, disaster follows. Can't you see that I have bigger problems? Winter is almost here, and I have an entire village to feed!"

"Between you and me, I think the village could do with a little less feeding," Hiccup mumbled.

"This isn't a joke, Hiccup!" snapped Stoick. "Why can't you follow the simplest orders?"

"I can't help it, Dad," Hiccup said. "I see a dragon, and I have to just kill it." He made a neck-snapping gesture with his hands. "It's—it's who I am, Dad."

"Oh, Hiccup. You are many things, but a dragon killer is not one of them. Get back to the house," Stoick told his son. He raised his voice. "Make sure they get there. I got their mess to clean up."

Gobber came up behind Hiccup, landing a gentle tap on the back of his head. He started to escort him by the other teens who were laughing. His cousin Snotlout laughed, "I've never seen anyone mess up so badly." He gestured to the sky where the dragons had disappeared. "That helped!"

"Yes, I know, thank you," Hiccup responded dryly. Gobber walked by and pushed Snotlout to the ground. As they approached Hiccup's home, he told Gobber, "I really hit one."

"I know," Gobber said right after Hiccup spoke.

"He never listens."

"Runs in the family." Hiccup either didn't notice Gobber's comment or pretended not to."

"And when he does it's with this disappointed scowl, like someone skimped all the meat in his sandwich," Hiccup said. He mimicked his father's accent. "Excuse me, barmaid, I'm afraid you brought me the wrong offspring. I wanted an extra large boy with beefy arms, extra guts and glory on the side. This here, this is a talking fish bone!"

"Now, you're thinking about it all wrong. It's not what you look like, it's what's inside he can't stand," Gobber clarified.

Hiccup stared at him for a moment. "Thank you for summing up," he said flatly.

"The thing is, Hiccup, quit trying so hard to be something you're not," Gobber shot back.

"I just want to be one of you guys," Hiccup sighed, reaching for the door. He entered the house and went through. He grabbed his journal, and he left out the back door to search for his dragon.


	5. Chapter 5

Hiccup had a drawn map of the forest area in his journal. He stopped here and there to look around, and if there was nothing, he crossed it off.

After hours of quiet searching, Hiccup made another X and started to scribble all over the page in frustration. He snapped the journal close. "Oh, the gods hate me," he said out loud to no one in particular. "Some people lose their knife or their mug, not me. I had to lose an entire dragon!" in his anger, he swung his hand at a hanging branch, but it snapped back and hit him in the eye.

Covering his hurt eye, Hiccup's eyes went up to the broken branch that had swung back and hit him, only to see it was half broken off, along with other branches around it. He uncovered his eye to look down and see a long ditch, freshly carved into the downhill slope.

As he continued, he lost balance for a moment, catching himself on a broken root from a large tree. He looked at it with curiosity.

As he came to an upward slope, he crawled up slowly. His head came over the hill slowly, but after a split second, he pulled back. He hadn't exactly expected what was there.

Slowly, the teenager climbed over the small mound and to the bottom, bracing himself behind a rock. Once Hiccup drew his knife, he circled the rock to discover the Night Fury tied up from the net he shot. The ropes held it tight. One wing straight up and laying on the other, its legs tied this way and that.

"I did it!" Hiccup cheered, sounding proud. "Oh, this changes everything! I have taken down this…" He placed his foot on the dragon for a moment when the dragon growled and twitched, sending Hiccup back in shock.

His gaze skimmed up the dragon's body as he stepped forward before it past the dragon's wings. Its eyes were closed. After his gaze past the wing, its eyes were open. It took him a minute, but Hiccup heard a groan. His eyes noticed an older boy tied up with the dragon, his mask still over his face, unconscious. He wore the armor everyone knew him by. The Night Rider.

Except now through there were bruises and cuts seen in places where his armor had been damaged in the fall. His left arm was at an awkward angle, and his breath came out shallow. It was almost hard to believe that the invincible Night Rider could be so weak, hurt and vulnerable. In fact, it seemed almost impossible.

Hiccup's breath was fast yet deep. He was determined. After this long, he was not going to chicken out at this opportunity now. All he had to do was kill the beast and take its heart to his father, then he'd led them to the human traitor, and they'd deal with him. Just by killing the Night Fury alone, he'd become famous in the village and his life would become infinitely better.

"I'm going to kill you, dragon. I'm going to cut out your heart and bring it to my father. I am a Viking." His voice was low and fueled with wrath. "I am a Viking!" he yelled as the dragon made a noise.

Hiccup let out a breath and raised his knife above his head, ready to drive it into the beast's heart. He held his eyes tightly closed, but when he opened his eyes and looked into the defenseless dragon eyes, he couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor creature. Trying to shake off the pity, he gritted his teeth and prepared to strike again. The dragon whimpered and laid its head on the ground as if it had already died.

Finally, Hiccup dropped his arms above his head. The opportunity to kill a dragon and prove himself was right before him. And he couldn't do it. For whatever reason, he found he just couldn't kill the dragon. How could he ever have thought he could? He dropped his knife and stared at the beast.

"I did this," he said quietly, his voice a mix of emotions as he looked away. He faced the dragon again, and a few seconds passed. Hiccup stood there in deep thought before he decided what to do.

The Night Fury's eyes flashed open as it heard the sawing of his knife on the ropes of the net that bounded it. Hiccup moved carefully but quickly, careful not to slice the dragon and cutting the ropes away easily. One rope, two rope. He didn't notice the hind legs were free now. Three ropes. Hiccup kept a paranoid eye out for anyone. The fourth rope snapped, and the dragon lunged at him. Hiccup was pinned against a boulder as he couldn't see anything but the terrifying Night Fury's furious eyes. He attempted to get as far away as possible on instinct, pressing himself against the rock.

The dragon curled its claws around his neck, causing him to tense. The Night Fury drew back, opening its mouth wide, and for a moment, Hiccup thought it was about to finish him with its plasma blast. Once the dragon removed its paw from his chest, his raised his arms to cover his face. Instead of firing, it roared an echoing warning in his face. No burning feeling, just the piercing sound of its roar.

Then the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself turned around, gently grabbed the Night Rider, and fled off into the trees. Hiccup guessed he should be grateful he was still alive. He was still paralyzed in fear.

He clutched his chest, breathing heavily. He stood up and tried to walk back to the village, but before he could take a step, he collapsed and passed out beside the boulder in the middle of the forest. Guess having a near death experience takes a lot out of you.

Night groaned as he started to come to. The world slowly began to bleed back into color. The last thing he remembered was the net, and then them falling from the sky. On the way down, Night's head hit something, and he blacked out.

He was starting to feel the effects of that now. His head pounded, and his body ached. Bruises and cuts marked his arms from gapes in his armor that had been torn during the fall. He was lying on warm grass, and he lifted his head and looked around to see they were in a cove, the forest and trees higher above. There was a lake nearby, and he was about to get up and walk over, he stopped, crying out at the sharp pain that shot through his arm at the slight movement.

 _Crash splash._

Night looked up, his eyes catching his brother right before he fell into the water. The Night Fury scowled to himself as he climbed out. He positioned himself beside the boy, and looked at him.

 _"You alright?"_ he asked.

 _"Just peachy,"_ gritted out Night. Every small movement in his left arm brought him pain. It was probably broken. _"I think I broke my arm,"_ he said. " _What about you? Are you alright?"_

When his brother said nothing, Night started to get worried. It started to dawn on him. Why did his brother fall? Shouldn't he have flown? And they wouldn't be here, no matter the injuries. They'd already be halfway back home by now.

Standing up with the Night Fury's help, Night searched the reptile's body. From head to claw, he found nothing. Nothing was out of place. It took a moment for his eyes to catch the horrible sight. The tail. One of the fins were missing.

His blue eyes softened in sadness and pity. Most of all, guilt. _"I'm sorry,"_ he sighed, sitting down beside the dragon. _"This is my fault."_

 _"Nah, don't worry about it,"_ his brother said, but Night knew it was only for his benefit. Without both his tail fins, he couldn't fly, and Night knew how much dragons loved flying. Not to mention, he wouldn't be able to survive long without being able to fly.

A down dragon is a dead dragon.

Everyone knew that. A dragon unable to fly is an easier target.

 _"What do we do now?"_ Night asked, breaking the silence between them. His brother couldn't climb nor fly out of the cove, and soon the dragons would be searching high and low for them. Not to mention her Highness would be outraged due to their sudden disappearances. Night couldn't even try to make them anything to get them out of this mess, not until his arm healed, which would take a while.

Worst of it all, they were trapped on the island of their enemies. This had to be the first time he ever feared for both himself and his brother. What to do, indeed.

 _"Nothing,"_ the Night Fury sighed. _"I can't fly, and we're stuck on an island of our enemies. Who knows how long we'll be stuck here?"_

 _"That's exactly what I'm afraid of,"_ Night sighed. He had a point. A sparrow flew out the cove. The Fury brothers both watched it until it was out of sight. Flying was a part of both of them. It was basically their second nature. Looking at his brother's fin, Night began to think. An idea formed in his mind, but there was no hope to actually fulfill it.

He could try to make a new tail. He knew every motion by now. But there was the issue of his arm. He normally used his left arm for everything. Doing things with his right hand had always felt weird. Even if he could get past that obstacle, there was the still the fact that he had no materials to make it with. He'd have to go into the village, which, with his injury, was practically a suicide mission.

They were stuck there for the time being, and Night just had to hope everything would play out for the best. Those times hadn't worked out well for him when he put his faith in luck, and he didn't expect it to this time either, but what choice did he have?


	6. Chapter 6

"Hiccup?" a girl's voice asked quizzically, perplexed as to why the chief's son was lying in the middle of the woods. The same girl walked over slowly to him, and lightly kicked his side to make him wake up. "Hiccup." This time, she was a bit louder. He stirred, but not enough. She then leaned down and grabbed his nose. She held it until he shot up to a sitting position, wide awake. "It's me. Do you have any idea what time it is?"

Hiccup rubbed his eyes for a moment and looked up to see Skullette. She was an older girl with dark hair and equally dark skin. At seventeen, she'd gone through dragon training already, and was one of the more experienced young Vikings on the island. Many were surprised with her. She's not as tough looking with her soft features and thing frame, but she was a strong as the next Viking and could wield any weapon you throw at her. No one really expected that from her, not even Hiccup at first, because everyone knew, and they couldn't look past one small fact.

Her long hair hung past her face, her bangs covering her eyes. Brown fur boots reached up just below her knee cap, brown leggings tucked in them beneath a sky blue V-neck tunic. Skullette blew her hair out of her eyes to see more clearly. Not that it would've made much of a difference. As her hair was out of the way, it revealed scarred irises. One was pale and cloudy while the other was half brown and half gray. Those eyes were the exact reason people didn't normally take her seriously.

A couple of years back, Skullette was in an accident during a dragon raid that left her completely blind in one eye, and nearly blind in the other. Though the vision in her good eye was horrible, her other senses made up for it. She might not be able to see well, if at all, but she said she didn't need it that much. She could hear a lot and feel a lot more. There was a time, a long time ago, when she'd been like him, an outcast. But that was before she'd proven herself as a true warrior to the people.

And that was when she'd wounded a Night Fury. She hadn't shot it down like Hiccup had, but she was able to hit it. To do that alone, when no Viking on the island had even seen it, much less hit it hard enough to hurt it. That still was true. No one but him had ever seen it, but she'd heard it, and she'd felt it in the air, and that was good enough for her. Unlike him, she'd actually had a witness to back her up.

Everyone had been so impressed that she'd done such a feat at only twelve years old (and while technically blind) that she was put into dragon training three years earlier than most. She was a dragon killer like the rest now. Except Hiccup sometimes wished that she was like him again. They'd been friends once, her being like an older sister to him, until she gained popularity amongst the villagers. Then she'd kicked him to the curb, saying that she couldn't be seen as friends with someone like him. Although the way she said it was a lot harsher.

It had started out slow, where they were still friends, but she started to spend less time with him because of training and the new friends she'd acquired. Then she started drifting away, almost seeming like she was embarrassed being seen with him out in public. After that, she only hung out with him when there weren't any people to see them. Then when he was thirteen, she'd stop talking to him completely. He hadn't known why, so he brought her flowers to make up for whatever he did wrong. She looked completely mortified when she heard her friends watching as he offered them to her. To this day, her next actions still stung. She had told him that she would never be friends with a screw-up and pushed him in the mud. Then she laughed in his face.

Hiccup might still be a little bitter about that.

He rubbed his eyes a moment. "Well, thanks for that!" he snapped. After a moment, he sat up. "My dad's going to kill me! And then kill me again!" he panicked.

"What?"

"It's late! The sun's down!"

"Then you better run fast," stated Skullette like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "What were you doing out here, anyway? Didn't the chief tell you to stay home after your latest disaster?" Of course she'd remind him of that. She pulled him up with one tug on his arm and stared at him, waiting for an answer.

He didn't give one, though, only followed her advice and took off. In minutes, he made it to the village and back home. His dad was hopefully asleep so as long as he was quiet, everything should be alright. He silently snuck in, not expecting Stoick to be sitting in the living room area. To his credit, he at least made it halfway up the stairs.

"Son," Stoick said without turning around. Hiccup immediately stopped, giving up.

"Dad, I have to talk to you," Hiccup responded, disappointedly making his way back downstairs. They both spoke at once.

"I don't want to fight dragons," Hiccup stated.

"I think it's time you start fighting dragons," said Stoick.

"What?" they asked simultaneously.

Stoick paused for a moment. "You go first."

"No, no, you go first," Hiccup insisted.

"Dragon training. You start tomorrow," Stoick said happily. Before today, that was all Hiccup wanted, but now.…That was the last thing Hiccup wanted to hear on a day like today.

"Oh, I should have gone first," said Hiccup nervously. How could he break the news to him without telling him that he'd freed a dragon instead of killed it? "I was thinking, you know, dad, we have a surplus of dragon fighting Vikings, but do we have enough bread-making Vikings," he tried as Stoick turned to get something. "Or small home repair Vikings?"

"You'll need this," Stoick went on, handing him a battleaxe. Hiccup might as well have not said anything at all with how well his dad listened to him. Despite his efforts, Hiccup wasn't strong enough to hold the axe upright, and it weighed him down.

"I don't want to fight dragons," said Hiccup bluntly.

Stoick laughed. "Of course you do."

Of course he'd think that. Hiccup had been the one to tell him that he wanted to fight dragons, to kill one. But now, seeing that dragon down, he knew he couldn't do it even if he wanted to. "Rephrase," Hiccup tried. "Dad, I can't kill dragons!"

"But you will kill dragons," Stoick assured him, ignoring him as usual. Apparently, all he thought Hiccup's words were that they were only doubts of himself, and he thought he was encouraging his son to follow his dreams of killing dragons.

"No, I'm really extra sure that I won't."

"This is serious," interrupted Stoick.

"Can you not hear me?" Hiccup demanded. He didn't even know why he asked that question. His dad never listened.

"Hiccup, when you carry this axe, you carry all of us." Hiccup dropped the top of the axe to the floor. "Which means you walk like us," Stoick said, pulling the axe up, "you talk like us—" fixing his posture—"you think like us." He pointed to his own head at those words.

"Which isn't much, is it?" Hiccup grumbled.

"No more of…" Stoick trailed off, scanning Hiccup's body. "This."

"You just gestured to all of me," said Hiccup in exaspersation.

"Deal?" Stoick asked.

"This conversation is feeling very one-sided," Hiccup tried.

"Deal?" Stoick repeated more firmly.

Hiccup sighed in defeat. "Deal."

"Good. Skullette and Gobber told him it was about time I gave you a chance. Train hard. I'll be back." Stoick grabbed his helmet and a bag, and paused at the door. "Probably."

"And I'll be here," said Hiccup. "Maybe."

And with that, he was in dragon training. To _kill_ dragons.

* * *

(Author's note: I'm sorry I have not been able to reply to anyone's reviews. For some reason, I can't find the option that allows me to reply. For who asked me if there will be Hiccstrid, yes, there will be. Just not right now. Also, for who asked about Astrid, no this will not be a fanfiction that vilifies her. I sincerely apologize if I made it seem that way. For everything else, wait and see until the next chapter. Toodles! :)


	7. Chapter 7

"Welcome to Dragon Training!" Gobber exclaimed the next morning, opening the gate to the training arena. Though only Gobber knew she was there, Skullette watched the new group of teens step in confidently, no one noticing her as she made no sound. She insisted on helping to train the younger ones since she knew so much about dragon killing. But also so she could make sure Hiccup didn't get himself killed.

"No turning back," Astrid said from the front of the group. As they stepped in further, they examined the scenery in awe. A small smirk pulled on the corners of Skullette's mouth. She remembered what it was like to be so amazed at all this. Her smirk faded, though, when she heard their comments.

"I hope I can get some serious burns," Tuffnut grinned.

"I'm hoping for some mauling, like, in my shoulder or lower back," his sister, Ruffnut, added.

"Yeah, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it," agreed Astrid.

"I hope the pain that comes with it is worth the fun," snapped Skullette, catching everyone's attention. Most of them jumped a foot in the air at seeing her. She stood calmly, her posture formal and rigid as she stared at them with cold eyes. Even mostly blind, she could muster a look that made it seem like she was staring into their very souls. She never liked how they all made killing dragons as a bunch of fun and games where it was anything but.

Her parents had gotten snatched away from her by dragons. Dragons are the things that ruined her eyes forever. Dragon killing is what she had taken up as a way to avenge her parents and her eyesight, and she hated it with a passion when she heard others talking about it as a game. As a simple way to pass the time.

"Yeah, no kidding, right?" said Hiccup dryly, making everyone turn to him. "Pain, love it!" he finished sarcastically.

"Oh, great, who let him in?" Tuffnut complained.

"The same person who let me in," responded Skullette, flicking him in the back of the head.

"Well, isn't this the class for the ladies," Snotlout flirted, looking at the older girl. He was attempting to charm her. And failed. Miserably.

"Go jump off a rooftop," she snapped without even glancing in the direction of his voice.

"Let's get started," Gobber continued before Snotlout could speak. "The student who does the best will win the honor of killing their first dragon in front of the entire village. Here we have another successful student who has received that same honor back in her days of dragon training." No one had to look where he was pointing to know he was talking about Skullette.

"Uh, Hiccup already killed a Night Fury, so does that disqualify him?" Snotlout joked, and the twins laughed.

Skullette gritted her teeth and rolled her eyes. "Hiccup doesn't really need to worry about that," she said calmly, biting her tongue. "He's small and weak, which makes him less of a target."

Hiccup would've made a sarcastic comment on that if Gobber hadn't cut him off. "That's right," he agreed, pushing Hiccup toward the line of teens. "They will see you as sick or insane, and go after the more Viking-like teens instead."

He pushed Hiccup towards the line, knocking him into Fishlegs. "Behind these doors are a few of the dragons you will learn to fight," Gobber stated, approaching a line of large doors. Each dragon he named, Fishlegs would shoot out a random fact right after each.

"The Hideous Zippleback."

"Attack 8, armor sixteen."

"The Deadly Nadder."

"Speed 11, stealth times 2."

"The Monstrous Nightmare."

"Fire power 15."

"The Terrible Terror."

"Attack 8, venom 12"

"Would you stop that!" Gobber shouted at Fishlegs. He rolled his eyes and reached for a new lever. Meanwhile, Skullette could tell what was about to happen and backed up against the side of the arena near Gobber. "And the Gronkle."

"Jaw strength 8," whispered Fishlegs to Hiccup.

"Woah, wait!" Snotlout cried. "Aren't you going to teach us first?"

Skullette outright laughed at his naivety. They actually Gobber would teach them how to deal with it first? "I believe in learning on the job," Gobber stated, and pulled the lever.

The small, round dragon shot out of its cage, charging at the children, but they scattered out of the way. "Today is about survival. If you get blasted—" the dragon flew into a wall—"you're dead." It shook it off and swallowed a rock. "Quick! What's the first thing you'll need?"

"A doctor?" Hiccup attempted.

"Plus five speed," suggested Fishlegs.

"A shield!" answered Astrid.

"A shield, go!" Gobber exclaimed. "Your shield is the most important item you'll ever need. If you ever had to choose with a sword or a shield, take the shield," he finished, helping Hiccup hold up his shield before Skullette shoved him out into the battle.

The twins were off on their own, fighting over a shield, until the dragon shot it out of their hands, sending them spinning to the ground.

"Ruffnut, Tuffnut, you're out!" Skullette shouted, hearing the clang of metal and the immediate halt in the twins' argument.

"These shields are good for another thing, noise. Make lots of it. Throw off the dragon's aim," Gobber told them. As he finished, the teens around the dragon began to hit their weapons on their shield.

Astrid, Snotlout, Hiccup, and Fishlegs ran around the Gronkle, clanging their weapons against their shields. The dragon blinked quickly, showing its confusion.

"Every dragon has a limited number of shots. How many does a Gronkle have?" asked Gobber.

"Five?" Snotlout questioned.

"No, six!" Fishlegs exclaimed, holding up his shield in excitement.

"Six, good, that's one for each of you," Gobber congratulated as the Gronkle shot a fireball at Fishleg's shield above his head. "Fishlegs, out."

Hiccup was hiding behind a skid of wood. "Hiccup, get out there!" ordered Gobber. Hiccup stepped out for a moment, only to have a fireball come too close for comfort and send him hiding again.

"That's three," Skullette announced out loud.

"Hey, I'm moving into my parent's basement soon," Snotlout said to Astrid. "I was thinking you could come over and work out." She ignored him, jumped, and cartwheeled out of the line of fire. "You look like you work out.

"Hey, watch it!" warned Skullette. He didn't listen.

A fireball shot at his shield, sending him to the ground. "Snotlout, out," Gobber said.

"So, I guess it's just you and me now, huh?" Hiccup said to Astrid.

"Nope, just you," she retorted and ran.

The fireball shot in his direction struck the shield from his arms. He chased after it as it ran away, but lost it once he realized the dragon was now chasing him.

"One shot left," called out Gobber before quickly realizing the situation Hiccup was caught in. "Hiccup!" he shouted as the boy was backed into a wall. Cornered.

Skullette could hear his every breath, fast and panicked. She didn't even hesitate. She rushed over to him, and stepped between him and the dragon, who was ready to fire and facing Hiccup. Just before the fireball was released, she grabbed Hiccup's shoulders and yanked him down to the ground. Gobber hooked the side of the Gronkle's mouth to pull it away, redirecting the attack.

"And that's six," stated Gobber, straining to fight the dragon. "Go back to bed, you overgrown sausage."

As he dragged the beast back to its cage, Skullette stood up, and stared down at Hiccup, visibly shaking, though with rage or with fear, he couldn't tell. Her shoulders rose with each shaky breath. "Are you okay?" she demanded in a tone he'd never heard her use with him before.

"Yeah," he muttered.

"I honestly thought you'd changed," she snapped, resting her hands on her hips. "But no, you're still the pathetic fishbone who needs me to look after him every day. This isn't a game!" Her voice softened. "You're going to get yourself killed one of these days, and I won't be there for you every time a dragon's about to turn you into a pile of cinders. Neither will your dad. Do something for once other than screwing everything up."

With that, she walked away. Coming from her, those words hurt a lot more than they should. Hiccup would actually rather her go back to yelling.

"You'll get another chance, don't you worry," Gobber yelled out as he closed the dragon in its cage. When he returned to Hiccup, he turned his head to look at Gobber. "But remember, dragons will always," he started at the others before turning to Hiccup, " _always_ , go for the kill."

He stood Hiccup up, and he looked at the burned mark left on the wall. Gobber's words got him thinking…

* * *

"So why didn't you?" Hiccup questioned himself, looking at the leftover ropes and stones where he'd released the dragon. After a moment, he stood up and walked away. He went on until he reached an opening in stones, leading to a wide open cove with a pond taking up most of the space in the center of it all.

Hiccup sighed to himself, looking down at his side when he spotted something. He knelt down and picked up a thin, small black plate. A scale. His mind immediately went back to the Night Fury. An instant after his mind thought that, the black dragon from before jumped up the wall. The teenager jumped back, and watched with wide eyes. The Night Fury seemed to be making an attempt to climb out. An attempt that was a bust.

Silently, Hiccup climbed down a section of rock for a closer look. He nearly slipped off the edge until he regained his footing. Once he was settled, his green eyes scanned the area. Then he caught it under a tree in the far corner. He pulled a book out of his vest. But where was…

His eyes spotted him on the opposite end of the cove from the dragon. The Night Rider still had his mask on, but he was cradling his left arm. It was obvious he was in pain. For a moment, Hiccup felt guilty. It was his fault. He shot them down and couldn't even finish the job.

A few minutes later, he finished drawing the Night Fury in a previously blank page in his journal. "Why don't they just fly away," he muttered to himself. He looked harder at the Night Fury to try to see if there was anything wrong with it when he noticed it. One of its tail fins were missing. He then rubbed out the left tail fin in the dragon drawing.

Meanwhile, the real dragon was trying to catch fish, but it was too exhausted to move quick enough to actually catch anything. Hiccup sat back slightly to relax. Only to sit back up again when he lost his pencil. It rolled off the edge of the stone he sat on and made a soft noise as it landed on the ground. Catching both the dragon's and the Night Rider's attention.

Sky blue eyes looked up at Hiccup from behind the Night Rider's mask, and though he was safe up there, Hiccup's blood ran cold at the look he was giving him. On second thought, maybe he should be glad his arm was broken. If it wasn't, there wouldn't be much guarantee that Hiccup would still be breathing right about now.

The dragon, on the other hand, looked much more friendly compared to the actual human down there. Even if it looked like it still wanted to rip Hiccup's head off. It watched him, its pupils black slits through its eyes.

Later, as Hiccup made his way back, he stopped suddenly as a sword embedded itself into a tree, inches away from his nose. It didn't take long for him to realize where it came from when he heard the mumbled out string of curses.

"What are you doing out here?" Skullette demanded from a few feet away, shocking Hiccup. He hadn't even heard her coming. "Again?"

"Just out for a walk," he lied quickly.

"In the woods?" From the tone in her voice, it was very obvious she didn't buy any of it. But then she rolled her eyes, and shoved him in the direction of the village. "Off with you now. It's about to rain. Don't want to get caught, now do you?"

"How do you know—" He froze as he heard a crack of thunder boom in the distance. Skullette's head jerked in the direction of the village. Hiccup followed to see a dark cloud forming in the sky.

The older teen had already begun to make her way back. "Could this day get any worse?" Hiccup grumbled to himself. As a response, lightning flashed in the sky and the rain started pouring down on him. He let out a loud sigh. "Of course it can."

* * *

Night huffed to himself when the green-eyed human left. No doubt he was going to tell everyone where they were now. He grumbled under his breath as he paced around the cove, tenderly holding his left arm upright. _"Terrific, just terrific,"_ he snapped, kicking a few pebbles into the water.

 _"Hey, at least it can't get much worse, right_?" his brother assured him. A loud crack of thunder rang in the air the minute he said that. Minutes later, it was pouring.

Night narrowed his eyes at the dragon. _"You just had to say that, didn't you?"_


	8. Chapter 8

Rain poured down, and the other teens were in the Grand Hall, enjoying dinner. "Where did Astrid go wrong today?" asked Gobber at random.

"I messed up my somersault dive. It threw off my reverse tumble. It was sloppy," answered Astrid.

"Yeah, we noticed," said Ruffnut sarcastically.

"No, no, that was perfect. It was so _Astrid_ ," argued Snotlout.

"She's right. You have to be tough on yourself," Gobber said as Skullette entered, Hiccup right behind her, their hair darker than normal, sticking to their faces. "Where did Hiccup go wrong today?"

"Uh, he showed up," Ruffnut joked as Hiccup walked past, picking up dinner and a drink. Skullette, on the other hand, got her food and listened on the opposite side of the room, eating by herself in silence.

"He didn't get eaten," her twin brother joked. Hiccup sat on a separate table from the others.

"He's never where he should be," answered Astrid firmly.

"Thank you, Astrid," said Gobber, slapping the twins on the back of their heads. "You need to live and breathe this stuff. The dragon manual." He dropped a book on the table. "Everything we know about every dragon we know of." He heard more thunder ringing in the air and glared at the ceiling. "No attacks tonight. Study up."

"Wait, you mean read?" asked Tuffnut incredulously.

"While we're still alive?" his sister added.

"If you're capable," muttered Skullette, though intentionally loud enough to be heard from the teens at the table.

"Why read words when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about," Snotlout ranted.

"I read it, like, seven times," started Fishlegs, ecstatic. "There's this one dragon that shoots boiling water at your face. And this other one that buries itself for a weak…"

"Yeah, okay," Tuffnut interrupted, holding up his hand. "See, we were going to read that…"

"But now…" his sister finished, rolling her eyes.

"You guys read, I'll go kill stuff." Snotlout left, followed soon by the others until there was no one else but Astrid.

Hiccup got up and went over to the book. "So I guess we'll share?" he suggested to Astrid.

"Read it." She pushed the book away to him and got up to leave.

"All mine then. Great. See you guys…" His words got cut off as the door slammed shut. "Tomorrow."

He waited until later to read the book when no one else was around. Or so he thought. He brought a candle to his table. "Okay, here we go," he said to himself, opening the book, revealing the dragon script writing.

"Dragon classification," Hiccup read aloud. "Strike class, Fear class, Mystery class." He turned some pages. "Thunderdrum. This reclusive dragon inhabits sea caves and dark tide pools. When startled, it produces a concussive sound that can kill a man at close range. Extremely dangerous, kill on sight." He skipped a few more pages. "Timberjack. This gigantic monster has razor sharp wings that can cut through fully grown trees. Extremely dangerous, kill on sight." He kept on reading. "Scauldron," he continued, "spits scalding water. Extremely dangerous."

A crack of thunder startled to him, and Hiccup turned to the door. After a moment, he turned back to the book and continued reading. "Changewing. Even newly hatched dragons can spit venom." He flipped through more and more pages after each dragon type. "Gronkle. Zippleback. The Skrill. Boneknapper. Whispering Death." The picture that came to greet him on that one sent a chill down his spine. He gulped. "Burns its victims. Buries its victims. Chokes its victims. Turns its victims inside-out. Extremely dangerous, extremely dangerous. Kill on sight. Kill on sight, kill on sight." His voice cracked with fear, and he flipped a few more pages until he came to a page.

On the top were two words. "Night Fury." He looked down at the writing at the bottom of the page. "Speed unknown, size unknown," he read out. "The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Never engage this dragon. Your only chance, hide and pray it doesn't find you." When he finished, Hiccup placed his journal on the page. It was the drawing of the Night Fury.

He really was the only one on his village who'd ever seen one.

A hand brushed over the drawing, feeling the indents left by the pencil. Hiccup instantly jolted, jumping a foot in the air before looking up at the owner of the hand who was tilting her head curiously as she gazed down at the drawing. One eye stared at it without seeing while the other only saw hints of color and a blurry version of the shape.

"Nice drawing," complimented Skullette. "One would've thought you actually saw it." Her fingers drifted up to the Book of Dragons page to feel the indents of the words at the top. "The Night Fury."

"Yep, I've got quite the imagination," joked Hiccup nervously, hoping she wouldn't put two and two together. Or at least right away. He knew Skullette. She was blind, not stupid.

She removed her hand from the book and simply looked. "I know what happened with the Night Fury you shot down," she said suddenly. Before Hiccup could protest, she continued, "I was a few feet away but I heard. I could hear everything. You set it free."

"Look, please don't—" Hiccup started, hoping to keep her from telling everyone by appealing to her better nature, but she cut him off as she sat down beside him.

"Don't what?" she asked. "As far as anyone else knows, I saw nothing, I know nothing." A small smirk pulled at the corners of her mouth. "But I did hear it. Not my fault if people never ask the right questions. Sometimes that's all you need. You want direct answers, ask direct questions."

"So you won't tell them about the Night Fury?"

"What Night Fury? I didn't see any Night Fury," she shrugged innocently, but he took the hint. She turned in the direction she heard his voice and gave him a sly grin. The same grin she used to give him when they were younger and she was about to do something that was bound to get them in trouble.

"If they know you knew this whole time, you could get in trouble. You'd be marked a traitor the same as me," Hiccup warned.

"Trouble?" she scoffed, playfully rolling her eyes in the same way she used to when they were still friends. Right when he was trying to talk her out something. "Please. You're only in trouble if you get caught. And I have faith that you won't. Just be careful." She got up and went towards the door. She gave him a wink with her good eye. "Remember what I told you when we were little? It's technically only breaking the rules if you actually get caught." And with that, she left.

* * *

"So I realized the book had nothing on Night Furies. Is there like a sequel or a Night Fury pamphlet?" Hiccup was talking to Gobber from inside the arena, which today was set up like a maze. A Deadly Nadder shot at his axe, taking the blade completely off.

"You might want to stop talking and start running," Skullette suggested from above where she listened to the events taking place.

"She's right. Focus, Hiccup, you're not even trying," ordered Gobber a few feet away from her. "Today is about attack." The Nadder climbed over the wood walls, chasing Hiccup for a moment before spotting Fishlegs running alone. "A Nadder is quick and light on its feet. It's your job is to be quicker and lighter."

The Nadder picked up its tail, revealing its quills, flicking them off into Fishlegs' shield. "I'm really beginning to question your teaching methods!" he shouted at Gobber.

The Nadder moved on from Fishlegs. "Look for its blind spot. Every dragon has one." The twins came in contact with the Nadder. "Find it, hide in it, and strike." They both stood in a tight line, right in front of its nose.

Ruffnut took a whiff of her brother. "Ugh, don't you ever bathe?" she questioned as the two moved with the dragon to stay in its blind spot.

"You don't like it, then get your own blind spot," her brother remarked. They stopped moving, and the dragon spotted them.

"Guys?" Skullette called out to try and get their attention. She heard the beginning of the twins arguing and judging from the pause in their footsteps, she guessed they'd stopped moving, and from the sound of the Nadder's movement, it hadn't. Which meant they were out of the blind spot and were now visible to the dragon.

"How about I give you one?" threatened Ruffnut, the twins banging their helmets together, neither apparently hearing her warning.

"Guys! Dragon!" Skullette yelled just in time for them to notice the dragon ready to fire. The twins split at the last minute.

"Has anyone ever seen one napping?" Hiccup attempted. From beside Gobber, Skullette gave a small hand signal in the direction of Hiccup's voice. The message should've been clear, and it was. She'd done it many times when they were little—well, _littler_ , in Hiccup's case—and Hiccup was saying something that provoked the older kids. _Shut. Up._

"No one's ever met one and lived to tell the tale, now get in there!" Gobber almost shrieked.

"Hiccup," Astrid hissed to get his attention. "Get down."

He did so. She watched around the corner at the dragon, waiting for the right time to move. When they did, Astrid and Snotlout rolled across the pathway. Hiccup attempted. And failed. The dragon spotted him and went after him. He ran around a quick turn, and the dragon slid into the wooden wall. In a domino effect, each wall came down as the dragon chased after Astrid. Hiccup had begun to ask Gobber more questions again (to which Skullette had responded by burying her head in her hands), until Astrid ran herself up a fallen wall, and jumped off the top.

"Hiccup!" she shouted as a warning right before she landed on top of him. Her axe was now lodged into Hiccup's shield. The dragon behind her over jumped into the pile of fallen walls.

"Ooh, love on the battlefield," Tuffnut teased.

"She can do better," Ruffnut commented.

Skullette uncovered her face slightly, revealing only her scarred eyes. She knew what was going on. Now all she could hear was the sound of Astrid trying to get her axe out of Hiccup's shield. "Astrid was on top of him after that little mishap, wasn't she?" she mumbled out, her voice muffled by her hands. "And now their weapons are stuck together, aren't they?"

"Yup," came Gobber's response.

"Oh, joy."

The Nadder turned and drew close to Hiccup and Astrid. Unhesitatingly, Astrid pulled her axe, still stuck in Hiccup's shield, away from him, and smashed the wooden shield into the side of the Nadder's face. It walked away with a whimper.

"Is this some kind of a joke to you?" demanded Astrid, glaring down at Hiccup who was still curled up in a defensive position. "Our parents' war is about to become ours. Figure out which side you're on." She pointed her axe at him during that last sentence before she walked away.

* * *

Later on, Skullette was there to greet him when he made his way to his house. As usual, she scared the living daylights out of him once she made her presence known as she came out from behind the door he'd entered through, and closed it. He had jumped, but was now starting to calm down, and he grabbed an old fish out of storage.

"Hiccup?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "Whose side are you on?" She kept her gaze near him, but her eyes still showed confusion, one sightless and the other nearly.

Her question made him freeze for a moment. "I don't know," he mumbled lowly.

A small smirk slipped onto Skullette's lips. "Are you going to find out?"

"Maybe I am," he softly smiled.


	9. Chapter 9

Hiccup was approaching the cove on the same level as the dragon. He was hiding between two huge boulders. He held up his shield in a gap between the two rocks and threw his fish out.

Someone nudged him in the back, and Hiccup jumped a foot in the air. He would've screamed if the person hadn't put her hand over his mouth to keep him quiet. Skullette gave him an unimpressed look before taking her hand off his mouth. How did she keep sneaking up on him like that?!

"Would you stop doing that?!" he hissed.

She rolled her eyes. Or from what he could see of them, her dark bangs falling over her eyes. Even if she could see, it'd be nearly impossible with all that hair. "Now what fun would that be?" she smirked. "Besides, someone's got to be around to make sure you don't get yourself killed."

"Like you'd be worried about that," grumbled Hiccup, starting to get fed up at this point.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

Hiccup turned back around, and he walked forward, but his shield then became wedged in between the boulders. Skullette heard the clang of the shield hitting the rocks and rolled her eyes yet again. She stepped out from behind him, and she ducked underneath the shield. Hiccup followed soon behind.

Hiccup looked around for the dragon, not spotting it on top of a flat rock jetting out the middle of the cliff side. Beside it was a tall, dark figure. Both were simply observing.

Skullette listened for the dragon, but couldn't hear any light footsteps, so she decided to listen a little closer as she sat down. Just faintly, she could hear breathing. And not just the patterns she normally heard with dragons, but human. There was another person here.

"I'll just wait here," she said, listening. "I'll tell you if I hear anyone coming." Right after that sentence left her mouth, she held up one hand to keep Hiccup silent since he normally couldn't go a few minutes without some sarcastic comment. She needed complete quiet. After a moment, she could finally pinpoint where she heard the breathing. With her right hand, she pointed towards the direction of where the Fury brothers watched, revealing a small stone ring on her finger. A faint glow of pink emitted off it, disappearing as she dropped her hand. "You might want to look over there," she remarked casually.

Just as Hiccup followed her advice, the Night Fury came out from its hiding spot and approached Hiccup. He took a few steps back, but stopped himself. He held out his fish to the dragon. The Night Fury purred as it slinked up to him. It suddenly growled, sending Hiccup a few more steps back. He had no clue what to do.

Looking up from where the dragon had come from, he saw the Night Rider staring down at him with that hateful glare again. His mask was on, obscuring his face. Yet his eyes still told that he wanted to run Hiccup through with a spear for even coming near the dragon. This time, his arm was in a makeshift sling that seemed to be made of various sources from the nature in the cove along with pieces of his ruined armor.

Meanwhile, Skullette froze in fear when she heard the soft footsteps of the dragon, thinking for a moment it was the Night Fury she shot down all those years ago. If it was, and she prayed it wasn't, she hoped it didn't notice her.

Hiccup touched his vest, and the dragon growled again. He got an idea of what was unsettling it. He touched his fingers to his knife, and the dragon growled even more. Maybe if he made himself seem less threatening, and more like he came in peace, the dragon would trust him at least a little. He took out the knife, outstretched his arm to the side, holding it out as far as his arm would go, and dropped it. It fell to the ground, but the dragon still seemed wary. Of course it would, Hiccup reminded himself. It probably thought he could go for it at any time.

He knelt down to touch the knife, and the dragon growled again. He got the message, and instead extended his foot out towards the knife. He balanced it on his foot, and kicked it into the water. When he looked back at the dragon, it sat back and purred again. Hiccup let out a breath, and the dragon approached him. It hesitantly reached its open mouth to the fish. There were no teeth in its mouth, only its gums showing.

"Huh, toothless," he mumbled. "Could have sworn you had…"

Teeth shot out from the gums, and the dragon snatched the fish out of his hands. Hiccup jumped, but all it did was gobble up the fish. "Teeth," he finished, his hands held close to his chest.

From above, he thought he heard something close to a chuckle. But he could've imagined it. When he looked up where the Night Rider stood, for a moment, the hateful glare was gone, replaced by an amused look. The glare returned when he noticed Hiccup staring.

The dragon licked its lips and began forwarding on Hiccup. He backed up nervously, hoping that this wasn't a bad thing. The Night Fury came closer to sniff him. "No, no," Hiccup said as he sat down on the ground while the dragon too close for comfort. "I don't have any more."

The dragon stopped, and Hiccup noticed its dragon eyes showed no threat. More curiously, the dragon began to gag until it spit out half a fish into his lap.

Hiccup made a disgusted sound at the sight. He cleared his throat and relaxed when the dragon only sat back on its hind legs. The black dragon looked from the fish, then back to him expectantly. From above, hearing another soft chuckle, he could just _tell_ the Night Rider was smirking at the situation he now found himself in. Hiccup couldn't believe it for a moment. The dragon wanted him to eat the fish.

Well, he wanted it to trust him. Here goes nothing. Slowly, Hiccup picked up the raw fish and took a bite out.

Hiccup tried so hard not gag. He held the disgusting chunk of fish in his mouth in his cheeks away from his tongue. The dragon, meanwhile, gulped loudly. Deciding to just get it over with, Hiccup swallowed, forcing the chunk down his throat. He shuddered at the retched taste before looking at the dragon. It licked its lips, and he gave it a crooked smile. In response, the dragon cocked its head and twitched its lips to show a toothless smile. Hiccup slowly pushed himself off the ground, reaching for the dragon's face. An inhuman growl met him as the dragon's teeth popped out. It growled at him as well before running to where the Night Rider was coming down from his hiding place.

The Night Rider sat down beside the dragon. The two started to have a conversation in their language. Hiccup vaguely remembered how when he was first seen six years ago, the Night Rider had a problem understanding what the people in his village shot at him. Insults or questions of why he helped the enemy had always appeared to go unheard by him. Maybe it was because he _couldn't_ understand.

Skullette, who had heard everything that happened and was now happening, was staring blankly ahead with an unimpressed look on her face. Hiccup noticed when he glanced behind his shoulder, and he said in a defensive tone, "Hey, I just ate a fish for that dragon. Cut me some slack."

She shrugged, smirking. "Trust me; I'll never let you live that down, Fish Breath."

Inwardly, Hiccup groaned. He could hear the future teasing now. "He wanted me to eat the fish, I ate the fish!"

She shrugged. Slowly, he turned around and approached the dragon. He sat down a few feet away, cross-legged. An inhuman growl met him once again as the Night Rider narrowed his eyes at Hiccup, backing up. The dragon said something to him, and he relaxed, but his glare only intensified. If looks could kill, Hiccup would be six feet under.

A bird chirped, and the Night Fury watched it fly away with envious eyes. It then noticed the teen and pinned its ears back. It laid its head back down and turned its body to cover its face with its tail.

Hiccup scooted across the ground toward the dragon's tail. He reached for it, and the dragon lifted its tail, showing his eye, growling playfully. Hiccup rose to his feet and walked away, defeated.

* * *

Time had passed and the sun was going down. Night sat beside his brother, watching the young human sitting on a boulder, drawing in the dirt with a stick.

 _"Why is he even here?"_ Night snarled, glaring daggers at the small boy.

 _"He doesn't seem dangerous…."_ his brother said uncertainly.

 _"You never know,"_ Night huffed.

 _"Does he even look like he_ could _hurt someone if he wanted to?"_ the Night Fury snorted, jerking his head in the boy's direction. Night had to admit he had a point. The boy was so skinny, he didn't even look like he'd be able to hold up a sword without falling over.

Night rolled his eyes. _"You can never be too careful,"_ he grumbled, folding his arms over his chest.

His brother ignored that comment, and left Night to scoff. His eyes glanced over to the human sitting by the entrance of the cove, where nearby he could see a wooden shield wedged in between two rocks. She had dark brown skin and dark hair that fell loose over her shoulders. She was probably about five inches shorter than he was, and she looked strong, but he knew he could win in a fight against her any day. Or at least once his arm was healed. Bangs hung over her eyes, obscuring them, yet even from here he could catch glimpses of the scars marring the area around them.

Overall, he decided she was…pretty. He guessed. Although he didn't get why she didn't seem to be afraid like the boy was. In fact, though she'd looked directly at him several times over the past few hours, it was like she was staring at him without actually seeing.

Hiccup kept on drawing, oblivious to the dragon conversation behind him. Skullette turned in the direction of the sound, stood up and walked over to Hiccup. She knelt on the ground, touching her fingers to the drawing and tracing the outline. The corners of her mouth lifted up in a small smile. "Not bad," she said lowly. "By the way, how could you tell the dragon is a boy?"

Hiccup recalled when he called it a 'he'. "Sometimes you can just tell, I guess," he answered.

Silently, the Night Rider approached the two, but not silent enough for Skullette. She heard the faintest of sound, and she twisted her head around in his direction. Meanwhile, from behind Hiccup, she could hear the dragon come close. They didn't do anything but watch as Hiccup drew the dragon's face in the dirt. Hiccup noticed that they were there, but continued drawing, acting casual, like he never saw them.

The Night Fury walked off, and Hiccup turned to see him pull a small tree from the ground. Once again, the Night Rider chuckled at the dragon's antics. Or at least he thought it was a chuckle. It could've been a growl for all he knew. Either way, the dragon ran around them, scribbling on the ground with the tree.

A small grin lit up Skullette's features as she heard the sound of the leaves and branches against the ground. Once or twice, the tree brushed up against her leg, and she'd flinch for a split second, thinking the dragon would attack her. There wasn't any other way for her to react since she couldn't attack. But slowly, she began to relax when she realized that he wouldn't attack unless she provoked him.

Once the dragon stopped, he looked at Hiccup and put a dot in the ground before continuing. He came close behind her, causing a branch of the tree to strike her head. She just laughed about it.

 _"Are you an artist now, too?"_ Night teased his brother, turning around to take in the dragon's work. He narrowed his eyes at Night and dropped the tree, then nodded at the ground in satisfaction.

Skullette searched for the lines until she found them, tracing the indents of the scribbles in the dirt. Hiccup scanned the scribbles curiously.

He stood up and stepped forward, accidentally stepping on a line of their scribbles. The dragon growled. Hiccup cringed and picked up his foot. This time, the dragon purred. "Okay, let's not step there," Skullette remarked, "unless you want him to bite your head off."

"Thank you, it's nice to be reminded that he could do that at any time," replied Hiccup flatly.

"No problem," she grinned without missing a beat.

Then Hiccup got an idea he wanted to try. He put his foot back down on the line, and the dragon growled again. Pick it up, he purred again. Each time Hiccup set down his foot, the dragon growled, but picking it up made him friendly again.

"What part of, don't step there do you not understand?" groaned Skullette, burying her face in her hands.

"Just trying something out," he mumbled. She heard, lifting her head up so only her scarred irises showed.

"You're crazy. You know that, right?"

"I've thought about it." Hiccup finally picked up his foot and stepped over the line instead of on it. The dragon purred even more, and Hiccup smiled at him. His eyes searched for the other lines, stepping in between. It was like a small maze, but he could see clearly where to step, and he already knew where not to step. With that in mind, he maneuvered through the maze, turning this way and that, watching not to step on the lines.

Before he even realized it, he found himself with his back to the tall dragon. Slowly, he turned to face him. Hiccup stared into the dragon's eyes and hesitantly reached up to him. He growled lowly, and the Night Rider narrowed his eyes once again. Hiccup pulled his hand back, and the two relaxed.

Hiccup started to think. Maybe there needed to be a mutual trust between the two. He just had to hope that it would work and it wouldn't get his hand bitten off. He faced away from the dragon, closing his eyes while slowly pushing his hand up to the dragon's face. Skullette couldn't hear Hiccup moving, but she couldn't hear any growling either, so that must've been a good sign.

"What are you up to, Hiccup Haddock?" she mumbled to herself.

The dragon looked at Hiccup's hand cautiously as he stopped when he came close. The dragon sat frozen for a moment, Night looking on, tilting his head curiously. Then the dragon almost pushed forward only to stop himself. A moment later, he touched his nose to Hiccup's hand.

The teen tensed up, preparing for the worst, but when he opened his eyes, he saw the dragon with his eyes closed, relaxed. Hiccup stood frozen in shock. The dragon wasn't actually attacking him. He'd been told time and time again that dragons always go for the kill, but it hadn't killed him yet. At first, he had thought that the only reason the Night Rider was still alive was because he was raised as one of them, and so dragons thought he was one of them. But now, he was starting to think that maybe it was because dragons…weren't as bad as everyone thought.

Then, the Night Fury pulled back and opened his eyes. His pupils were dilated, but they soon formed into slits, and he ran off to where the Night Rider now stood. For once, he wasn't glaring at Hiccup, but more like he was studying him. Maybe humans perplexed him as much as he perplexed them. Especially one like Hiccup.

* * *

"I'm glad to see you've actually survived the encounter without dying," Skullette remarked on their way back to the village. "That's got to be the longest you've ever gone without nearly getting killed."

"Ha ha," retorted Hiccup dryly, still in deep thought. He noticed how the older girl's eyes were faraway, well, more faraway than usual, like he wasn't the only one thinking about things. He knew he should resent her even after two years, but he found he couldn't hold a grudge against her. He was just enjoying that she wasn't ignoring him anymore. "What's wrong?"

She sighed softly. "Today just reminded me of something my mom used to say," she said, twisting the ring around finger with her left hand. A nervous tick of hers she never grew out of. "She thought that dragons had feelings like us. She always looked for a different way other than killing, even though your father constantly told her that dragons were evil, and that being soft on dragons wasn't going to get her anywhere but in a Nightmare's belly."

The slight bitterness in her tone surprised Hiccup. She almost never talked about her parents, almost as if she could forget about the pain that came with losing them by not acknowledging that they'd ever existed at all. "What happened to her?" he asked quietly.

"She was depressed for a long time, Hiccup," answered Skullette softly, turning the ring around her finger more feverishly. "She never even liked my dad that much. Not in _that_ way. It was an arranged marriage between my grandparents when they sold her off to his family. Not many were even that upset when she died. She'd been depressed since she'd been forced to kill a Monstrous Nightmare in dragon training. The marriage only made it worse." Her breath became shaky. "I was a few weeks old when she went into the training arena, unarmed, and set a Nightmare loose. Let's just say, after that, everyone became sure that my mom's theory about dragons had been wrong."

"Sorry. I'd never heard about her," apologized Hiccup, feeling guilty for even asking. Yet at the same time, it looked like a weight had finally been lifted off her shoulders. As if she'd been carrying it for a long time.

"No one likes to talk about the dead," she spat, her voice filled with venom. "But they just loved talking about her when she was alive. It's only when she died that everyone was suddenly her best friend." She exhaled loudly through her nose before regaining a calm composure. "But what does that matter now? The past is the past, right?" Although the way she kept twisting the ring around her finger told another story.

"Right…" Hiccup agreed uneasily. Something told him that was the most he'd get out of her without stepping onto a minefield.

After a moment of silence, she commented in a humorous tone, "You could say that's why I'm here to make sure you don't get your own head bitten off, too. If my own parents couldn't survive a dragon, what chance does a fishbone like you have?"

"You're great support, you know that, right?" asked Hiccup sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"I do try," she grinned, pretending that she couldn't hear the sarcasm in his tone. Her smile faded, though, as they entered the village. "Just be careful with that Night Fury. If you die, I swear to Thor, I will find your dead body, bring you back to life and kill you again myself."


	10. Chapter 10

"And with one twist, he swallowed it whole." Gobber told his story with all his students around the fire. Including Hiccup. He roasted fish over the fire while the others roasted chicken. "And I could tell by the look on his face, I was delicious. He must have passed the word because it wasn't a month before another one took my leg." He gestured to his peg leg, holding it up off the ground for everyone to see.

"Isn't it weird to think your hand is inside a dragon," Fishleg started. "Like, if your mind was still in control of it, you could kill the dragon from the inside. By crushing his heart or something." Everyone, excluding Hiccup, who was deep in thought, and Gobber, gave him a questionable look.

"I swear I'm so angry," Snotlout angrily said through his teeth. "I'll avenge your beautiful hand and your beautiful foot. I'll chop off the legs of every dragon I see. With my face."

Gobber caught everyone's attention once again. "Don't worry about it, 'cause it's the wings and the tail you really want anyway," he said. "If it can't fly, it can't get away. A downed dragon is a dead dragon."

Hiccup's eyes grew wide at his last words. By shooting down the dragon, he'd also taken away one of its best defenses.

Gobber yawned and stretched his arms. "Well, I'm off to bed. You should be, too, for tomorrow, we move on to the big ones. Slowly but surely making our way to the Monstrous Nightmare." The teens leaned forward in anticipation, no one noticing that Hiccup was gone. His roasting fish on the stick sat leaning against his seat. "But who will win the honor of killing it?

"It's gonna be me," Tuffnut bragged, and then he went about how he got a tattoo, but his sister told them it was actually a birthmark. Hiccup was already heading down the wooden ramp.

He rushed all the way to the blacksmith stall. Out of the corner of his eye, he nearly had a heart attack to see Skullette standing against one of the walls, staring down at an old leather-bound journal, her fingers tracing the indents of the writing left by the pen. Humming softly a song, she just stood there calmly. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" he snapped, catching his breath.

Her head snapped up, smirking up at him, her sightless eyes full of mirth through the bangs of her black hair. He knew very well that she'd probably heard him coming a few minutes before he even got there. At the very least, she could've given him a warning. Although, the result probably wouldn't have been much different than the one a few seconds ago.

"Maybe if you paid a bit more attention, it wouldn't be this easy all the time," she teased, closing the journal. She set it aside on a stool at arm's reach. Before he could see what was on the cover, she turned it over so the back faced upwards, as if she knew he would look. It always annoyed him to no end when she was always one step ahead of him, like she knew what he'd do before he even did it.

He drew something in his sketch journal and passed it to her. After she took it from him, he moved to start taking apart an old shield. Instead of checking what he'd drawn first, Skullette's head shot up towards the noise. "Okay, I know I'm going to regret asking, but what are you doing?" she asked in a bored manner, tilting her head to one side.

"I don't know about you, but I can't sit back and let that dragon die," he answered without pausing in his work.

"Didn't know you'd become so attached to the thing after a day or two," she said as she turned her attention the book in her hands, skimming her fingers along a page of his journal. It was the drawing of the Night Fury, but…different. Finding he'd drawn the other half of the tail, she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and traced the outline. It was different in some ways from the other half, different from the original. "You're making it a tail?" she asked, lifting up her head.

"Him," corrected Hiccup, taking the handle off an old broken sword.

"Him, of course. How thoughtless of me," muttered Skullette absentmindedly, listening to the sound of him heating the piece of metal and hammer it into a metal rod. Upon finishing rounding it out, he dipped it into a bucket of water, the hot metal bringing it to an instant boil. Listening to him work so well in the blacksmith wasn't that surprising. He'd always been creative, even if ironically, he messed up a lot of things he was actually _supposed_ to be doing. But what did she know? After all, she didn't _see_ him do anything wrong.

He pulled out all the screws from the old shield and carefully heated and hammered them into marbles. An hour later, he was done. Using the combination of the marbles and metal rods, they created joint-like features, able to open and close. Carefully, Hiccup slid cloth around and in between the joints. Overall, it looked like a pretty good imitation tale. Not too far from the real thing.

He held it open in front of the diagram he drew of the full mechanics of the prosthetic tail. He opened and closed it, satisfied with his work. He turned around to show Skull the invention, but found her gone from her spot. His journal was on the stool her own book had sat a while ago, still open to the page with the Night Fury on it.

Setting the tail down gently, he flipped his journal close.

* * *

"Hey, Toothless." Hiccup's voice echoed through the cove early in the morning with the prosthetic tail and a basket full of fish. The dragon sniffed the air, smelling the fish.

"Let's hope they're hungry," Skullette said absentmindedly from the entrance of the cove, crossing her arms over her chest. Hiccup had to admit he was proud that he didn't jump at her sudden appearance. He set down and pushed over the basket of fish.

"That's disgusting," commented Hiccup as Toothless sniffed at the food. "There's some old salmon, uh, Icelandic cod, and a whole smoked eel." A dark figure stepped out of the shadows, slowly edging toward the fish. But the dragon growled at the pile of fish, pulling back as he finished the sentence.

Weird, Hiccup thought. He bent to pick up a yellow and black eel, showing it to the Night Fury. Once he picked it up, though, Toothless roared, opening his wings, his eyes slit pupil. "No, no, no!" Hiccup begged, tossing the eel into the pond. He reached for Toothless, but he shook his head. "Yeah, I really don't like eel either," he admitted, wiping his hand on his vest.

"That sounded slightly terrifying," chuckled Skullette. "Let's try not to do anything risky today."

Meanwhile, what sounded like laughter erupted behind him. Hiccup looked to see the Night Rider laughing at Toothless, the dragon growling at him.

 _"Aw, is the big baby boo afraid of a little eel?"_ Night teased, leaning his arms against his brother's head, an amused glint in his eyes.

Toothless wacked in his back of the head with his tail. _"Shut up,"_ he growled.

 _"Of course, of course,"_ Night smirked. _"And Toothless? Really? You're sticking with that name?"_

 _"I like it! It's not that bad,"_ snapped Toothless.

Night shrugged innocently. _"Whatever makes you happy."_

Toothless rolled his eyes and began eating. Moving behind the dragon, Hiccup mumbled, "I'll just be back here, minding my own business."

"Hiccup, he's eating, he honestly won't care," Skullette pointed out. "And I doubt that unless you're idiotic enough to announce what you're doing, he's not going to exactly stop you."

Hiccup ignored her. He set the prosthetic tail beside Toothless's real tail, ready to attach it. Until he moved his tail away. Hiccup chanced a glance at Toothless to make sure he was still eating and moved closer, but he moved it again.

Hiccup huffed and straddled Toothless's tail. The dragon moved again, and Hiccup lost balance for a moment, but then began to strap on the prosthetic tail. Toothless, on the other end, was no longer distracted by the fish as he finished eating. He lifted his head from the fish basket, and tried to feel what was on his tail. Night glanced behind him, and nearly burst out laughing again. Of course. He couldn't wait to see his brother's expression.

Toothless's eyes grew wide and his wings fell to the ground by his side. He knew. At the look on his face, Night burst into silent hysterics, struggling not to laugh and failing.

By the time Hiccup finished strapping on the prosthetic, he pulled it open to admire his work. While he didn't see behind him and neither could Skullette, she had better hearing. And froze, hearing the movement of the Night Fury. The sound of its joints cracking as they extended, and the sound of his wings opening wide to take off.

"Hiccup, just a little warning here, but you might want to hang on tight," warned Skullette. Hiccup gave her a confused look, but before he could open his mouth to ask what she meant, the Night Fury took to the air. The teen wrapped his arms and legs around Toothless's tail as he took to the air.

Hiccup noticed the prosthetic tail closed but the real tail open, causing him to fall lopsided out of the air. He pulled it open just in time before the two hit the ground. Skullette turned her head curiously where she could hear the sound of wings beating in the air. At least she didn't hear the sound of something hitting the ground.

Toothless flew through the air, gliding across the waters and above the clouds. "It's working!"Hiccup cheered as he angled the tail to make his way back to the cove. "Yes! Yes, I did it!" As they flew over the pond, Toothless looked back at the sound. He turned quick, throwing Hiccup off his tail into the water. Seconds later, Toothless noticed the wind had forced the prosthetic tail close, and he fell into the water as well.

Skullette heard two loud splashes, and made a quick guess as to what happened. She ran over in the direction of the sound, and stopped when her foot came in contact with the water. "Hiccup?"

Finally, Hiccup swam to the surface up the water. Toothless resurfaced a moment later. "Yeah!" he cheered. He made his way back to shore, and was about to tell Skullette when she flicked him on the forehead, making him hiss in pain. "Ow!"

"That's for scaring me," she said, folding her arms across her chest.


	11. Chapter 11

_"You have to admit that he's not so bad,"_ Toothless pointed out, nudging Night, reminding him of how the seventeen-year-old teenager of how angry he'd been when the boy had found them in the cove. Toothless waved his tail in front of his own face, checking out the artificial fin. _"It's close to the real thing, but I need help to make it work apparently."_ The dragon frowned, remembering how he fell into the lake when there was no one to help keep the prosthetic open.

Night frowned and rolled his eyes. _"Alright, maybe he's not as bad as everyone else,"_ he muttered.

Toothless perked up one of his ears and extended it towards Night. _"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that,"_ he grinned.

 _"Don't make me say it again,"_ snapped Night, taking off his mask to be sure his particularly vicious glare wasn't going to waste. _"I said he wasn't as bad. That's all you're ever going to get out of me."_

His brother gave a toothless grin. _"But it's a start."_

Night didn't say anything, but he turned to the lake, sitting down before it. He'd been trying to get Toothless to let him try out the prosthetic tail fin for a few hours now, but he didn't want Night to get himself hurt by accident. Especially considering the first test drive, Toothless couldn't let his human brother get anymore injured than he already was at the moment. Sometimes he forgot that he wasn't as strong as he was.

After all, as strong as Night was, he was still only human.

Night didn't give any comeback or deny Toothless's comment, which he took to be a step in the right direction.

* * *

"Today is about teamwork," Gobber told the teens gathered in the arena as the area filled with green gas. "Now, a wet dragon head can't light its fire. The Hideous Zippleback is extra tricky." The group split up, the girls heading one way, Hiccup and Fishlegs another, and Tuffnut and Snotlout went the other direction as the gas grew thicker, obscuring their vision. "It's your job to find out which is which."

"And good luck with that," Skullette added, listening to the events taking place. Something told her this wouldn't end well.

"Razor sharp, serrated teeth that inject venom for pre-digestion." Fishlegs muttered out facts about the Zippleback as he stood back to back with Hiccup with a bucket of water in hand. "Prefers ambush attack, crushing its victims in its…"

"Would you stop that?!" Hiccup hissed, turning to face him.

"If that dragon shows either of its faces," stated Snotlout to Tuffnut, "I'm gonna—" He cut off, noticing a large approaching shape through the fog. "There!" The two flung their buckets of water at it.

"Hey!" Astrid's voice snapped.

"It's us, idiots," Ruffnut said as the two girls stepped out of the fog, revealing them both to be soaked.

"Your butts are getting better. We thought you were a dragon," her twin mocked.

Snotlout looked at Astrid, trying to correct Tuffnut's words to make himself look good. "Not that there's anything wrong with a dragon-esque figure—" Astrid threw a punch into Snotlout's jaw, and Ruffnut flung her bucket at her brother.

He fell back a few feet, dizzy from the strike. He then vanished, something dragging him into the green fog. His sister stepped forward to help, hearing her brother's yelps of terror. "Wait," Astrid told her, holding her back.

Astrid readied her bucket, and from her spot overseeing, Skullette heard something sliding fast across the floor. "I suggest you jump," she warned, but it was too late as something swiped the feet out from beneath the two girls below. Skullette sighed, and noted Gobber looking at her. "I tried to tell them," she shrugged innocently.

Tuffnut soon came scrambling out from the fog. "Oh, I'm hurt! I am very much hurt!" he cried, running off.

"Chances of survival are dwindling into single digits now," said Fishlegs, his voice tight with fear. One Zippleback head emerged from the fog, approaching Fishlegs. He backed up a couple of feet before throwing his water at it. Gas rolled out of its mouth, and Fishlegs realized his mistake. "Oh, wrong head," he whimpered right before it shot gas straight at him.

"Fishlegs!" Gobber called out in concern as the boy ran past Hiccup.

Skullette, on the other hand, cheered, "Five down, one to go!"

The other hand was revealed as the smoke cleared up. "Now, Hiccup!" Gobber ordered. Hiccup threw the water up to the dragon's head with all of his might…only for it to fall short and splash onto the ground.

"Oh, come on," Hiccup sighed, disappointed. The dragon bolted towards him, one head flinching with every spark that left its mouth, and Hiccup fell back to the ground.

"Hiccup!" Gobber shouted.

Skullette could tell what was happening, hearing everything that had happened and now listening to the dragon's growls of warning and fear. The Zippleback leaned toward Hiccup, but when it sniffed him, it drew back. Everyone stared, transfixed as the dragon retreated, Hiccup slowly standing up and holding his hands out, as if controlling it. Skullette tilted her head to one side.

"What are you up to, Hiccup Haddock?" she muttered with a faint smirk.

"Back, back! Into your cage!" Hiccup ordered, slowly backing the dragons back into their cage. Once it was fully inside, Hiccup reached into his vest, and secretly took out a black and yellow eel. He tossed it in with the Zippleback, sending it back flat against the wall.

The smell of eel and the soft sound of it hitting the floor gave Skullette a clear idea of what happened. "Well played, Fish Boy," she smirked slyly. She always knew that physical strength wasn't exactly his forte. His strength had always been more in his mind. Sometimes in events like these, illusion was what she tended to rely on. Make everyone think you're weak when you're strong, or in Hiccup's case, make them think you're strong when you're weak.

As Hiccup shut the large doors, closing in the dragon, he turned to see everyone staring at him. Fishlegs dropped his bucket in his shock.

"Okay! So, are we done? Because I've got something to, uh…" he trailed off as he started to make his way out of the arena. "Yep, see you tomorrow." He ran off, slipping past Skullette. While everyone kept on gaping, she burst out laughing. Who would've thought?


	12. Chapter 12

Soon enough, Hiccup was back at the blacksmiths, creating a saddle for Toothless. Skullette came by minutes later, almost causing him to mess up on a piece of his work with her sudden appearance. How she kept doing that he'd never know. Still, she was an alright help, if you could call her occasional sarcastic commentary on his stitching help, as he took a small sharp object and a hammer to the leather strap, poking small holes along it.

When he was finally done, he brushed his hand along it twice and showed it to her.

"Not bad, Fish Breath," she smirked, running one hand over the leather. "You know, if we need sewing Vikings, we'll call you." Now, that last part just seemed like she was mocking him.

"Thank you, it's nice to be considered," Hiccup retorted dryly, taking it from her while she laughed.

* * *

As Hiccup showed Toothless the leather saddle, Night immediately looked at his brother, his mask over his face but his eyes full of amusement. _"A saddle? You're really going to let him try this?"_ he asked Toothless, struggling not to fall over in laughter.

Toothless lowered his head to the ground and wagged his tail. It looked like he was considering it. Then he said, _"Nope,"_ and ran away with Hiccup running after him, holding the saddle above his head.

Night actually laughed at the scene taking place before him, sitting down on a nearby boulder. And for once, Hiccup was sure it was a laugh, and not a growl.

It took a while, but Hiccup eventually got the saddle on Toothless. Up in the air, he had a rope tied to the prosthetic tail of his dragon to pull it open when needed. He pulled the ropes, and the tail pulled the opposite way as intended, sending the teen off the dragon.

 _"And down they both go,"_ Night sighed, watching Hiccup fall, and Toothless soon after. It was starting to become clearer that if one goes down, so will the other.

* * *

Later that day, Hiccup, after removing his vest himself cross traps, opening his arms to show Skullette back at the Blacksmiths hut. She sat on a stool, listening to Hiccup explain how the straps hanging from his hip straps and how they could hook up to the saddle. Despite the skeptical look she gave him, she said she was going to let him try anyway because listening to him fail was just so entertaining. What a great friend Hiccup had. Sometimes he thought he should get a new one.

Next flight, Hiccup tied the rope to his feet. It had too much slack, though. He pulled but the tail didn't open. Toothless lost balance in the air and fell to the ground, the momentum sending the Hiccup flying off. He stumbled a few steps forward in the tall, light green grass to catch his balance. Skullette's laughter told him she'd heard everything. She sat several feet away from Toothless in the grass, her legs crossed beneath her.

Somehow, by some way Hiccup couldn't begin to understand, Toothless had both managed to coax the Night Rider into coming out of his hiding spot in the cove. And when he attempted to go back, Toothless had grabbed the collar of his shirt with his teeth and dragged him with them. Now, though looking agitated, he also seemed mildly amused at the events taking place. His facial expressions were hard to tell because (surprise) he still had his mask on, but Hiccup could sense he was smirking behind that mask.

"This is one of your plans gone wrong," Skullette commented with a small smirk, her sightless eyes looking in Hiccup's direction from the sound of his previous footsteps. "How long until they go right?"

"A few more tries never hurt anyone," Hiccup sighed, turning his gaze to Toothless to see him rolling happily in the grass. The Night Rider picked up a piece of the grass with his good arm and held it close to the dragon's nose, watching him purr. Hiccup raised an eyebrow at them.

"What?" Skullette asked, tilting her head to the side curiously.

"Toothless seems to like the grass," Hiccup answered quietly. At this, Skullette listened to the sounds of Toothless purring and rolling around. She moved her hand to feel the grass around her.

"Hmmm. Must be like catnip for dragons," she beamed.

"It's dragon-nip," Hiccup said with a small smile, holding some of the grass up in his hand.

* * *

A Gronkle knocked Astrid across the arena. The dragon caught a glimpse of Hiccup and charged at him. Hiccup's eyes grew wide, and he shut them tightly, thrusting out his hand, holding the dragon-nip in it. Suddenly, the dragon skidded to a stop, sniffing at the dragon-nip happily. It then rolled over on its side as Hiccup stroked the grass close to its nose.

Skullette smiled to herself from above as she listened to the events taking place. "He's getting better, don't you think?" she said to Gobber, despite knowing very well he was technically cheating. But technically, it also wasn't cheating if he was just taking down the dragon…peacefully.

"It's like he has a way with the beast," Gobber gaped under his breath. "Like…like…"

"Like the Night Rider," she finished, turning her head at the direction of his voice with a grin.

"Yeah," Gobber agreed.

After training, the others gathered around Hiccup while crossing, smiling and curious. Each of them asked question after question. Hiccup stepped back, pointing behind himself. "I left my axe back in the ring," he lied. "You guys go on ahead. I'll catch up with you," he called back at them before leaving, nearly running into Astrid.

As Skullette walked past, he grabbed her arm and pulled her along. "I guess he needs my help finding it!" she called back at the group. "By the way, I kinda need this arm," she grumbled to Hiccup when he finally stopped yanking on her arm.

* * *

Hiccup scratched Toothless around his head. The dragon pushed into his hand, satisfied and purring. Hesitantly, the Night Rider slowly shook his head at Hiccup and used his good hand to move Hiccup's to scratch under Toothless' chin. His brother fell to the ground instantly, pushing out a breath. Night nodded his head towards the spot Hiccup had scratched, and Hiccup immediately understood what had happened.

Hiccup held up his hands, smiling at them. Hiccup turned around and began to step forward, still smiling at his hands.

* * *

In the arena, a Nadder fired at one of the teens, then came running at Hiccup. He hesitated a moment, then dropped his sword. The dragon stopped and looked at it. He heard Astrid yelling and saw her running with her axe at the ready. Quickly, Hiccup scratched the side of the Nadder's head, then under its chin. Just as expected, it fell to the ground instantly, leaving a surprised Astrid with her axe still raised in the air.

"Nice one!" Skullette called out from above. "Be a little faster next time, Astrid," she commented, giving Astrid a fake smile. She never did like the blond for some reason.

That night at dinner, Hiccup sat at his regular, distant table, and Skullette was at her usual spot, but when Hiccup sat down, everyone immediately swarmed around him to get a seat near him. Except for Astrid of course. She slammed her cup on the table, looking away from them with a furious look on her face.

"Oh, don't worry, Astrid, I'm sure you'll get your little chance of fame soon enough," Skullette's voice came from behind her, making her jump. Yeah, Skullette just had that effect on people. The dark-skinned girl gave the blond a grin before finishing her meal and strolling out of the Grand Hall. Astrid narrowed her eyes.

* * *

At the cove, Hiccup was working on putting some stuff together until he noticed something. "Skull, whatever you're doing, stop," he ordered calmly. Skullette, who'd been standing a few feet away, looked at him in confusion, but Hiccup's eyes were on Toothless, readying to pounce on a small red dot shimmering on the ground at Skullette's side. "Your ring," he said excitedly.

Sunlight glared off the pink stone in the center of her ring. Skullette furrowed her eyebrows before moving her hand. Then she heard Toothless running. Hiccup saw him chasing after the moving dot on the ground. As the realization hit her, she laughed.

Hiccup smiled, especially when he caught the Night Rider's eyes following the dot too, like it was taking all of his restraint not to chase after it as well.

* * *

"Meet the Terrible Terror," Gobber announced as a small, green dragon crawled out of its cage.

"Don't be fooled by its cuteness," advised Skullette, taking a step back, remembering that thing from her dragon training days. It had earned its name.

Tuffnut only laughed. "That thing's the size of my—" The Terror dove at him, taking him down to the ground as it began chewing on his nose. Hiccup angled his shield so the light reflected off the center onto the dragon's face.

Once it caught sight of the shimmering dot, it followed it off Tuffnut, who crawled away crying, "Oh, I'm hurt! I am very much hurt!" Hiccup led it away back through its door and into its cage. "Wow, he's better than you ever were," Tuff said to Astrid, which earned him a sharp glare from her, as Hiccup closed the door with his foot.

* * *

In the woods, Astrid threw her axe from tree to tree, practicing to be better. She stopped when she was getting ready to toss her weapon at another poor defenseless tree and saw Hiccup with equipment in his arms, Skullette following close behind.

Upon hearing the sound of axes repeatedly cutting into trees, Skullette guessed it was Astrid. "What did those poor trees ever do to you?" she demanded. Though she was unable to see it, she could only imagine Astrid's face. Hiccup grabbed hold of her arm, leading her back to the cove, but as they rounded a boulder, Skullette yanked Hiccup back, covering his mouth with one hand as she pressed herself close against the rock.

Astrid climbed up the boulder, looking for the two, but saw nothing but trees. Frowning, she pounded her fist on the boulder in frustration. Waiting until she heard her walk away, Skullette then released Hiccup. This time, she yanked him forward. At this point, she knew the path to the cove so she could lead the way without seeing where she was going. Hiccup just gave her a heads up when she was about to walk into a tree or rock, or step on something.

Later, it seemed that Hiccup was adding pedals to either side of Toothless' saddle, the corresponding sides attaching to their prosthetic tails. Night looked it over, carefully trying not to move his broken arm too much.

 _"Oh, this just get_ s _better and better,"_ Night teased. Toothless whacked him upside the head with his tail as a response.

Hiccup took his little flying lesson up to the top of a hill where the wind blew strong. It picked Toothless up off the floor, but he was still tied to the ground, where the wind had only lifted them a few feet. Hiccup pushed the pedals down, opening the tail, and the wind stopped. He drew down the position on a cheat sheet. Another gust of wind picked the Night Fury up once more, except this one was strong enough to snap the rope tying them to the ground. Night winced as the two were catapulted back, barely missing Skullette who, having heard them coming her way, had taken step to the side as they passed by her.

Thankfully, one of Hiccup's straps had kept hold this time. Or more, it had gotten stuck. "Hmm, guess they came in handy after all," Skullette grinned, tugging on the strap.

Toothless rolled over, picking Hiccup up as he did. With Skullette laughing at him, Hiccup pulled at the rope a few times. "Oh, great," he said flatly.

"Another one for the scrapbook of failures?" Skullette sighed, folding her arms across her chest.

"Yep, this one's a doozy."

* * *

Together, they returned back to the village. Night had stayed behind, which was in everyone's best interest since the mask was kind of a dead giveaway. As the two teens snuck through, a man walked by, and Hiccup leaned against a wall casually, Skullette standing by his side. He greeted them with a simple, "Kids."

Hiccup waved and waited for the light to get at a comfortable distance before letting Toothless step out of the shadows. He pulled Hiccup to turn, and he pulled Toothless in the right direction. He took him inside the blacksmiths, and Toothless sniffed at a bucket, then flung it off his nose when it got stuck. Skullette stood in front of him, trying to keep him still while Hiccup tried to pry open the metal to release him, which wasn't exactly easy when she was still too scared to touch him. Even after all this time, her mind couldn't help but remember the fact he could bit off her hand every time she went near him.

"Hiccup?" Astrid's voice came from outside. Skullette froze. "Are you in there?"

Instantly, Skullette ushered Hiccup out, gesturing toward the sound of Astrid's voice as a sign to keep her busy while she kept Toothless occupied the best she could. On his way out, Hiccup covered his cross straps with his apron and climbed out a window, closing it behind him. "Hey, hi, Astrid," he greeted nervously.

"I normally don't care what people do, but you're acting weird," she said. At that moment, Toothless chose to pull at Hiccup. From inside, Skullette held out her hands before him to stop him from moving any further.

"Shh!" she warned quietly through her teeth. "Stop it!"

"Well, weirder," Astrid corrected herself. Before she could say anything else, Toothless pulled Hiccup up through the closed window and back inside. Astrid quickly opened the windows to see no one while Skullette hid crouched low beneath the window, holding her breathe. Hiccup rode off on Toothless' back, and he jumped just in time before anyone saw.


	13. Chapter 13

Hiccup sat in the backroom of the blacksmiths, rolling a pencil up and down his desk. Someone tapped his shoulder and he jumped a foot in the air before turning around to see Skullette standing there.

"Hey," she greeted with a smirk. "Someone's jumpy."

"I swear, the day I die, it'll be because you scared me to death," Hiccup muttered, shaking his head. A second later, he got a flick to the side of his temple. "Ow!"

"I heard that," Skullette smirked.

"Of course you did," Hiccup said dryly, rubbing the side of his head. "So what's wrong?"

Sitting down on a nearby stool, Skullette started twisting the ring around her finger. "I was just curious...What is it like? Flying on a dragon?" she finally asked, tilting her head to one side.

Hiccup shrugged. "I can't really describe it," he replied. "It's just a nice feeling, being in the air. You should try it sometime-"

"No!" Skullette suddenly exclaimed, her hands in the air. Then in a calmer voice, she tried again. "I don't think that's a good idea for me."

Hiccup furrowed his eyebrows. "Why not? You're already in this with me. There's nothing wrong with it at this point with everything else we've done."

"It's not that," protested Skullette, going back to twisting the ring around her finger. "It's just that flying on a...dragon...requires a lot of trust, especially when it comes to someone with my condition." She pointed to her scarred eyes. "With me, even being on a boat makes me feel a bit antsy, but I deal with it because I can at least feel the ground beneath my feet and get a feeling of what's going on. In the air, I can't do that and I'm basically putting a lot of faith in something I can't be sure of."

"If the dragon likes you enough to let you on, I'm pretty sure it won't dump you into the sea when you least expect it," Hiccup stated, sounding like he'd had this conversation before.

"But you don't know that, and I certainly don't know that because I can barely even see my own two hands in front of me with the eye that can see," replied Skullette matter-of-factly, raising one eyebrow.

"But-" Hiccup's counter was cut short when Skullette suddenly turned her head towards the door, hearing heavy footsteps making their way to the backroom.

"Oh, someone's coming," she said nonchalantly. From beside her, Hiccup's eyes widened and he frantically made to gather all his drawings and papers of Toothless, but stopped once he realized his dad was standing in the doorway.

"Dad!" he exclaimed, rapidly attempting to cover up his sketches from his father's line of vision. "You're back. Gobber's not here."

"I know," said Stoick, squeezing in through the door. "I came looking for you."

"You did?" Hiccup asked.

At the same time, Skullette said, "Wait, you didn't know he was back yet? I thought I told you."

"You didn't," Hiccup whispered while trying to keep up the innocent charade for his father.

"Oh, I thought I forgot something," she responded with an apologetic look.

"You have been keeping secrets," Stoick stated, his expression dead serious.

"I, uh, I have?" asked Hiccup nervously.

"Nothing happens on this island without me knowing about it," Stoick continued. Hiccup replied with an "Oh?" Stoick stared at him before he said, "Now let's talk about that dragon."

Hiccup's hand slipped over the edge of the desk. "Oh, gods. Dad, I was going to tell you. I just didn't know how..." He trailed off when his father started laughing. Nervously, Hiccup joined in while Skullette listened to the events unfolding around her in confusion. "You're not upset?"

"What?" Stoick belted. "I was hoping for this."

"You were?" Hiccup asked.

"Okay, I hate to admit, but now I'm confused," Skullette chimed in.

"Just wait until you spill a Nadder's guts for the first time, or mount your first Gronkle head on a spear. What a feeling." With a playful shove from Stoick, Hiccup fell into a bucket behind him. "All those years of being the worst Viking Berk has ever seen. Odin, it was tough, but all this time you've been holding out on me. Oh, Thor almighty!" Pulling up a chair, Stoick sat down with a wide grin on his face. "With you doing so well in the ring, we finally have something to talk about."

Skullette reached out a hand to Hiccup and pulled him out of the bucket with a strong yank on his arm. There was a long silence. A very long, awkward silence. "Well, this is awkward," she nervously chuckled.

"Oh." Stoick reached behind him to pull out a helmet with horns on the side much like his own. "I brought you something, to keep you safe. In the ring." He handed it to Hiccup who smiled. While it was because of a few lies, Hiccup couldn't help but feel happy to hear his father's approval for once.

"Thanks," Hiccup smiled.

"Your mother would've wanted you to have it," added Stoick as Hiccup ran his hand over the helmet. "It's half of her breast plate." Hiccup's hand quickly pulled away.

"And this just got weirder," Skullette mumbled under her breath.

Stoick tapped the helmet atop his head. "Matching sets. Keeps her close. Wear it proudly. You deserve it."

Hiccup looked at the helmet in his hands, then to his dad. He set the helmet down, then yawned and stretched. "It's getting late. I should probably get back to the house." They spoke at the same time once again, and then Stoick made his way to the door.

"Good night," he said before leaving.

Skullette put a reassuring hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "Lots to live up to, huh?" Hiccup sighed and shook his head. On the other side of the door, Stoick sighed and nodded his head.

It took until she heard his footsteps recede a good distance away before she spoke again, but even then, her voice was hushed. "Do you really think you can keep this up?" she sighed, arms folded across her chest.

"What choice do I have?"

* * *

Night tried to drown them out but he could still hear their cries. Toothless could hear them too, but he was reluctant to help with how risky it was. He wanted to cease those pleas as much as Night did, but he weighed the options in his head more than Night had. Night's only concern was whether or not he should wait until they were both ready to fly again or help them now before it was too late.

Unlike the young human that kept coming back, Night hadn't been able to get much practice at working Toothless's artificial tail fin. Maybe when his arm was better, Night could fix the tail so Toothless could fly on his own.

While he had to admit that he was slowly growing attached to the human, he knew he had to keep his distance. The boy was young now, but there was no telling whether or not time would turn him into a cold-blooded dragon killer. Yet there was still something about him, something that seemed familiar. Something about the young human reminded Night of something he hadn't known he'd forgotten. No matter how hard he tried, though, he couldn't place his finger on why.

For now, he might help them on his own and find his own way off the island. Toothless seemed to enjoy being free from the Queen's control, even if it was for a short while, but Night was never free. Alhough he wasn't a dragon, he was still connected by an invisible force. Many had tried to escape, but the sound of her call from a certain distance forced them to obey, even someone as stubborn as Night on the rare occasions he dared to defy the Queen. He could also feel what she felt, which was never a good thing since her feelings mostly revolved around anger, rage, and other distasteful feelings that could make him shiver on end.

Besides, he couldn't leave his family behind. He promised himself he would protect them, even from their Queen.

But if Toothless wanted to stay, he could stay. Night sometimes felt the anger bubbling up inside him off how easily Toothless had warmed up to the human, how easily he'd become like a pet.

A few moments of silence passed before Night made up his mind. With his good hand, he picked up his mask and placed it over his face, then pulled up his hood so only his sky blue eyes showed.

 _"_ _What are you doing?"_ Toothless sleepily asked, waking up at the slight sound.

Over his shoulder, Night lied, _"_ _Just heading off for_ _a walk. I'll be right back."_

His brother accepted it, resting his head on his paws as he let out a loud yawn. _"_ _Okay. Don't do anything reckless or stupid while you're gone."_

Night didn't answer. But then he turned around and smirked, _"No promises."_ Before Toothless could fully register his words, Night ran off.

For a moment, Toothless simply nodded and started to drift off to sleep again. Until the meaning of the words hit like a ton of bricks and his head shot up, eyes wide. _"He's not,"_ he murmured to reassure himself. _"_ _He_ _wouldn't_." Then, _"He couldn't possibly be stupid enough to -Wait a second, what am I saying, of course he is! NIGHT!"_


	14. Chapter 14

_"WHERE ARE THEY?!"_

The entire island trembled at the sudden roar of the Dragon queen who sat restless in her murky pit. It had been weeks since the disappearance of the Fury brothers. It was shocking to see they hadn't returned with the rest after their weekly raid.

It was unusual for them-especially Night-to leave their fellow kin behind. Many worried that they'd been captured or killed. Others thought they had deserted them.

Their queen had sent out many to find them both, but they all came back empty-handed-or, claw, in their case. The queen grew more and more impatient within each and every second. What had her blood boiling over was that humans had dared to come into her territory, something that wouldn't have happened if Night had been around to keep lookout.

For years, humans had tried to find her kingdom and rid of its existence. _Fools_ , is what the queen thought of them. If they knew who they were picking a fight with, they'd try to run with their tails between their legs.

 _"Nadder!"_ the queen roared, calling forth an old Nadder who slowly but hurriedly came to his mistress' call. _"Report."_

 _"No sign of them, Your Highness. They're nowhere near nor on the nearby islands, but there also hasn't been any word from the humans that they have been captured or killed,"_ the Nadder said.

The queen huffed out smoke of frustration. They were to raid soon, and she was tired of calling new minions only to lose more in the end. She needed the Fury brothers. All the dragons residing in the nest did, for they feared that if this went on any longer, they would not only be her slaves but her meals as well.

* * *

Night headed out into the forest and came to the edge of the village. The streets were quiet, but Night knew it was better to play safe. No dragons would come tonight, for the Queen was still full since the last raid. Still, it'd only be a matter of time until they'd come back.

Creeping through the shadows, Night followed the silent cries to an arena. His blood boiled at the sight of it. This wasn't the first time he'd seen an arena, the last time being one he wished he could forget.

* * *

 _It was the middle of winter a few years ago. Night was almost thirteen. He and Toothless (of course, back then, the only thing Night called him was "Brother") were flying through the clouded sky that was slowly greying. A storm of frost was forming. They needed to find a spot to rest for the night before returning to the nest._

 _An island caught his eye, one that at first glance, you'd would think was abandoned with no man or dragon in sight. At the time, it hadn't mattered. Every dragon knew flying in a snowstorm was suicide, especially a young dragon like Toothless. Sure, he was a strong and great flyer, but everyone had their limits._

 _As they were about to land, Night felt a chill go up his spine. No, it wasn't from the winter air; no, it was like someone was watching them._

"Be alert," _he told his brother._

 _Toothless's ears twitched at the noises Night wasn't able to detect. Hopping off his brother's back, Night searched for a resting spot. The air got colder as the wind picked up. Eventually, he found a cave. It wasn't as big as theirs back home, but it would do for now._

 _Night directed Toothless to it, and when they'd settled in for the evening, he cuddled up underneath Toothless's wing and let his warmth rock him to sleep._

 _"_ Squawk!"

 _A cry echoed through the air along with the howling of the storm. Both Fury brothers were up on their feet, sword and teeth bared. Outside was nothing more than blankets of white and the rush of ice flying through the air._

"Leave this place!" _a voice demanded._

 _It came from someplace further in the forest. A dragon. It sounded like it was in agonizing pain. Despite Toothless telling him it was too dangerous to try to help, Night ventured out of the cave and rushed towards the sound. Toothless ran after him only moments later._

"Get out while you still can!" _With each warning, the voice became more weak, more tired, making Night all the more desperate to help it. At this point, it was too hard to see through the blizzard so he was simply following the sound blindly until he came to a metal dome with spikes. One small whiff of the air around it made his stomach cringe, his throat filling up with bile. It was the strong smell of decaying flesh and the metallic taste of ash and blood._

"Something terrible happened here," _Night mumbled to his brother who nodded in agreement._

 _There was an opening to the dome that only made Night's suspicions and fear grow. They cautiously made their way in, but the minute they entered and Night could see more clearly, the sight that met him made his stomach turn and the bile rise up his throat once again._

 _Piles of discarded limbs of dragons, men, and various unidentified pieces of flesh surrounded them. Night was shaking, his eyes wide in horror as he took it all in. Toothless waa by his side in an instant and tried to lift up his wing to shield Night's eyes from the terrifying scene before them._

 _A figure moved within the pile, and both brothers jumped. Drawing his sword in shaky but firm hands, Night slowly approached it. Once near it, he caught a glimpse of the creature, and he almost dropped the sword._

 _Tears threatened to form in his eyes when he realized it was a young Nadder hatchling. Its wings were ripped from its body, and its spikes were nowhere to be seen. It was cut deeply in its vital areas. All in all, it was amazing it was still alive, though barely._

"Leave, they'll kill you if you stay any longer," _the Nadder pleaded. Night couldn't move, transfixed on the scene before him in horror._

"Who?" _Toothless asked._

 _**SLAM**!_

 _The door suddenly slammed shut, breaking Night out of his shock, and he turned to see a group of men. Weapons, armor, and scars covered their bodies. They all reeked of dragon's blood, some even their own._

 _They said something among themselves in a drunken slur, but he could tell from the way they were looking at him, he knew it couldn't be good._

 _Toothless growled as he circled around Night. It was like this everywhere they went. True, no one but him had ever ridden a dragon, but it was seen as betrayal, a disgrace to man. Many sought to fight him, to kill him to prove they were superior._

 _But that was the least of his worries. In fact, if anyone should be worried, it was them. The men who had killed all these innocent creatures. Within seconds, the sadness and horror turned into anger and rage._

 _Why? What had they done? Why such treatment? For sport, for fame, selfishness? For fun?_

 _No. No more._

 _Night's vision went red as his rage took over him completely. All he could remember were the pleads for him to stop, begging for mercy. They didn't deserve it. They got what was coming to them. It was only fair._

 _When Night finally came to, he was surrounded by the bodies of those who took all those innocent lives away. Blood covered his entire body from head to toe. His sword's blade dripped with crimson blood._

 _It was no surprise to see the young dragon hatchling, damaged and broken as it was, now laid motionless, having breathed its final breath. But it still hit Night a lot harder than it should've. He hadn't even known it. Yet the fact that he could've saved it, if he had just gotten there in time, weighed heavily on him._

 _His breath hitched, his body trembled, his heart ached._

 _He screamed._

 _There were no longer any tears this time, but the mixed, overflowing emotions in his head were almost too much to bear. He remembered back then how he'd asked himself why it had to be this way. How he'd wished none of it had ever happened. How, despite what he'd done, he didn't regret it. Because at least no one would ever be hurt by those men again._

 _The next morning, both Toothless and Night left the island, but not without finishing one last thing. With enough wood and flame, Night made sure the whole island burned._

* * *

With a steady breath as he broke out of his memories, Night slipped through the bars and leaped down to the arena, landing on his feet with a soft thud. It was well organized, but it still had signs of a struggling past. Though thankfully not recent, there was a faint scent of blood, probably from a while ago, but no matter how clean it was currently, the scent of blood never left a place or a weapon. Not to one who could detect it.

There were many cages holding captive dragons. Just the sight of them made him curl his uninjured hand into a fist. Making sure no one was in sight, Night approached the first cage. Gripping the board with his good arm, he pulled on the door so it opened just the slightest, then quickly slipped in.

It was dark, so dark you'd almost believe it was empty. But Night could feel eyes glaring into his soul.

 _"Who are you...human?"_ the dragon growled.

 _"My name is Night,"_ Night replied, kneeling to the cold floor as he placed his weapon where the dragon could see it. _"I'm here to help you."_ Images flashed through his head of that day years ago. _"I promise."_


	15. Chapter 15

Atop the Monstrous Nightmare, Night sighed. _"You don't have to take me back to the nest,"_ he told him, looking at the other dragons flying nearby. _"I could find a way back myself. If you come with me, the queen will take control of you all."_

 _"Let her try,"_ said the Nightmare defiantly, his head held high.

 _"You are worried. So are we,"_ added the Gronkle. _"But like you, we're all strong enough to fight on our own."_

The night sky began to turn light as the sun rose in the distance. Drowsiness began to set in, but Night refused to give in. The sooner he got back to the nest, the better. An eerie song flowed through the air, pulling the dragons forward into a sea of fog. The Nightmare struggled not to succumb to it, but Night hissed at him to give in. She would only sing louder which would sting like a thousand speed stingers.

Flying about the rocks and abandoned ships, they made it to the island. The atmosphere was as depressing as ever with its lack of lush greens and nutrition, not to mention the increasing need for security.

 _"So...sad,"_ mumbled the Zippleback, looking down at the island. Night nodded in agreement. This was where he grew up. It wasn't the easiest, and if his mother hadn't taught him how to survive, he wouldn't be alive right now.

Entering the mountain, Night found all dragons, new and old, clinging to the walls. Scents of blood and fear filled Night's senses, causing his blood to run cold.

 _"Night,"_ a low whisper called out to him as he dismounted the Nightmare. It was a Nadder, his mother's old friend. She held onto the wall for dear life with her hatchlings clinging to her side. _"Thank goodness you're safe. But where's..."_ Night turned away, supplying her with an answer. She fell silent.

 _"She is not pleased with you for disappearing for so long."_ Night winced at the nearby Terrible Terror's quiet words. _"But she luckily doesn't know your brother is a traitor. Yet."_

A traitor. That's what Toothless was now. How ironic, he thought with a grimace. The human boy who helped them would be thought a traitor among his kind, while he was thought a traitor by his own as well. Perhaps it was for the best Night left him behind. Traitors were not dealt with kindly and more often than not were never seen again.

But for a traitor who left and never returned, who left to become their own dragon, their punishment was death. To do what Toothless had done, to leave for the sake of a human, to form a friendship with a human, had never been done before. And while Night had yet to know what punishment could be worse than death, he was more than positive her majesty would come up with one.

For Night himself, though, he could tell a harsh, pain-filled punishment awaited him for displeasing his queen.

* * *

"I cannot believe the luck you have," Skullette snorted as she made her way through the forest in the morning. Hiccup was ahead, his eyes searching frantically. She carefully followed the sound of his footsteps. Thankfully, though in his nervous state. he remembered to walk slow enough for her to keep up, even when she nearly bumped into the occasional tree or two. "After all this, it all threatens to come apart. The gods must really love us."

"I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but can you not be sarcastic for two seconds?" Hiccup asked over his shoulder.

"This coming from Lieutenant Sarcasm himself? Please, that's like asking me to stop breathing," the older girl retorted with a quirked eyebrow. "Look, your dad's upset because of all the dragons in the arena disappearing. It physically pained me so much to hold back any and all sarcastic comments when everyone was wondering who could've done such a thing that I'm practically venting now. Seriously, how the Hel has any of these people survived this long?"

"Don't ask me, sometimes I still wonder that," Hiccup said. "The only answer I can come up with is the sheer stubbornness not to die." Hiccup's day was just going great. He'd woken up in the morning, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, everything seemed alright. That, of course, was too much to ask because then Gobber came to inform his dad of the bad news about the sudden dragon loss. To say Stoick was a little displeased about this would've been an understatement.

"Who could've done this?!" his father had demanded. While it had immediately clicked who, Hiccup didn't say a word. Neither had Skullette, though he could see she was tempted to. Not because she wanted to rat anyone out, she had told him later, but because she thought the question was rather stupid.

"I mean, who else could have done it?" she scoffed. "I don't see anyone here capable of it. No one could get that close to so many dragons without getting a limb bitten off before getting them to trust them in so little time. You're getting close, but I doubt a fishbone like you could make it that far without getting caught by someone. No offense."

"I'm once again touched by your confidence in my abilities." Hiccup's voice was wry. "And none taken." They could both conclude that he probably didn't take Toothless since there wasn't any actual damage done so Hiccup had yanked his friend along to see if the Night Fury was still where they'd last seen him.

Yet Hiccup had searched every inch of the cove and other places of the forest with no such luck. If his tail fin was still the way it was, he couldn't have possibly left with the other dragons unless the Night Rider was riding him, and even Hiccup noticed how he was starting to ice the dragon out the closer Hiccup got to him. It was probably his fault. And if Toothless had managed to get himself out of the cove, that could mean he's wandering around somewhere, where someone other than a dragon-friendly Viking could find him. So where could he be?

 _ **ROAR**!_

From beside him, Skullette flinched at the loud noise. Hard. Hiccup didn't think he'd ever saw her react like that to anything, not to any other dragon she faced, and certainly not with any opponent in battle. Before he could ask her what's wrong, she simply pointed in the direction of the sound, crouching low to the ground as the roar of a Night Fury entwined with the wind.

Hiccup searched cautiously for Toothless only to find him at the edge of a cliff, probably calling out for the Night Rider. "Toothless!" he shouted. The dragon automatically turned its head to Hiccup and bounded up to him. His large green eyes were frantic and scared. "It's okay, bud," Hiccup tried to assure him.

"What's wrong?" Skullette asked, standing up and padding over to the two. Her expression was still a bit fearful but more relaxed now that she heard it was only Toothless.

"He's worried," Hiccup told her. "The Night Rider's gone, but I'd be worried, too, with the way he just took off."

That was the least of their concerns, though. "Yes, well, I don't mean to sound insensitive, but we don't have just the guy to worry about because guess what? Your pet dragon's out in the opening and it's going to get us all in trouble," Skullette sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "We have to get him somewhere safe before we can start thinking about anything else."

"Okay. Come on, bud." Thankfully, the dragon understood them more than the Night Rider did and seemed to follow the conversation and came along with the two humans. "How did he get out? When I first saw him, he couldn't do it."

"Everyone finds a way to do the impossible when they're scared for something important to them," Skullette told him simply, retracing her steps to where they last were before they went off their usual path in their search for Toothless. "I think the cove is best until we can find a better finding spot for him." There was the worry nagging her at the back of her mind that she tried to push back as she tried to hide herself twisting the ring on her finger. Soon someone would discover Hiccup and Toothless were friends, and when that day came, the consequences would be grave. Toothless would be killed, even if there was the possibility he was like someone Skullette knew, and Hiccup...she didn't know what would happen to him, and that worried her.

And her? Well, Skullette could care less what happened to her. In all honesty, she'd been breaking the rules since before she learned of Hiccup's budding friendship with a dragon and the traitor of man. If she were being completely honest, someone else had already begun changing her views on dragons from thinking them to be soulless beasts simply created to be destroyed. Besides, she was never intending on staying since meeting said someone else until she noticed Hiccup needed help and that this was a way she could actually learn more than what she was told from experience.

By now, she'd come to an understanding. All dragons, even those capable of fight or flight, can be trained. Only problem was how it was affecting them both. How would this affect how Hiccup does in dragon training? How long until his forbidden friendship was revealed?

As for the Night Rider himself, on the mere subject, Skullette didn't understand how people could be so _dense_. It was simple math and common sense when you thought of it. Based on what other people said about him, he was about her age, and if she remembered correctly, there _was_ an incident about seventeen years ago. Anyone her age and over, though, knew very, _very_ well that asking, speaking of, or bringing up the matter was a ticket to getting yelled at, tied to a mast, and shipped off. Maybe it was just that everyone was merely in denial after it happened. Or they just didn't want to risk it by suggesting it. She knew she sure didn't.

"Or maybe the best would be to just leave," Skullette remarked, twisting her ring so hard her finger stung. "It'd be safer, and hey, taking a vacation for forever wouldn't be the worst. No more ridicule, no more pretending to be something you're not."

"I can't leave," Hiccup said. "My dad's here, Gobber's here, people would wonder where I was-aw, who am I kidding?" He gave a wry smile that nearly broke Skull's heart. "But I couldn't. That wouldn't be right."

"Don't tell me you've never thought of it," snorted Skullette, stopping with her palm against the bark of a tree. "You stay here, you're either going to be forced to a kill a dragon or _this_ gets discovered." She shrugged, a solemn expression set on her face. "I don't see a best case scenario here."

"Everything gets resolved and goes away," Hiccup said sarcastically.

"Or we all die," Skullette shot back with an equally unhealthy dose of sass. "Fish breath, you need to think a teeny, weeny bit realistically."

"Typical, I've got one thing going for me and now that's ruined, too."

"I'll help you pack."

Hiccup turned to give her a look, not that she would've seen it. "Ah, yes, I can tell you're oh-so-eager to be rid of me forever," he snorted.

Skullette smirked, blowing her bangs out of her eyes. "If it makes you feel any better, I was already going to take off from this island anyway. Get away from all these losers."

Hiccup stopped walking. "You were going to leave?" She wasn't the type as far as he knew her. She was the type who stuck by her home village and stayed no matter what.

The dark-skin girl turned to the direction of his voice and gave a simple shrug. "Yeah. People would get over it," she mumbled, her scared eyes turned down as she twisted her ring faster. "I was thinking of heading off with...a friend before this mess. He's kinda from another tribe." The way she said that told Hiccup it was more than just a friend.

He nodded his head in understanding. "Oh, okay. What's his name?"

At the question, Skullette's face lit up like the moon on a dark night. She started walking again, passing by Hiccup. "No one special," she said absentmindedly. "Just some guy named Wrenlou." She laughed and promptly ended up walking into a boulder, not paying attention. "Ow!" Clutching her nose with one hand, she put out an arm to feel the stone in front of her. Noticing what it was, she glared at the thing in her way. "Stupid boulder!"

In the meantime, Hiccup was trying not to laugh, and failed miserably. Toothless even let out a loud chortle that landed them both a scathing glare. Both instantly stopped laughing.

"Don't start with me, fish breath," she snapped, and then looked in the direction of the dragon's sound. "And that goes for you, too, you overgrown reptile." She moved past the boulder in her way and kept on going until she suddenly stopped.

Unfortunately, Hiccup immediately knew what was the matter. He knew that look of realization setting on her face. "Uh oh, what is it?"

"Well, I can at least tell you it's not a what like your pet." Toothless growled lowly at that. "Sorry," Skullette promptly apologized, listening carefully. "Still getting the hang of the fact that these beasts have feelings."

"Hey-" Hiccup cut himself off just in time. What she had said was harsh and blunt, but he could tell she was trying to get it. To understand what he was showing her. He tried to see it from her point of view for a moment. She wasn't like him. Unlike him, she could kill a dragon; she _had_ killed dragons, and she was taught from a young age that dragon's were evil, horrible, and emotionless monsters, even having a good enough reason to believe that.

But she was trying despite all her previous beliefs. She was trying to understand, to go against all she'd been taught, all she'd known her whole life, for something new. She couldn't pretend, though, that the battles were just nightmares, or that her parents' deaths were just an illusion, so it was taking her a while to adjust.

"So what can you hear?" Hiccup ended up saying instead.

Before she could answer, she stopped and her eyes narrowed at something out of Hiccup's line of vision. "What are you doing here?" she demanded in an agitated tone.

"I could ask the same about you." Astrid. Hiccup hushed Toothless and started to lead him back, away from the potentially disastrous situation. "What's up with all the disappearances lately?"

"I really don't see how that's any of your business, Blondie," snapped Skullette.

The sound of rock on metal sliced through the air as Astrid sharpened her axe with a stone like she hadn't a care in the world. Skullette bristled at the noise but stood her ground. "I beg to differ," she said. "You've been different lately."

"Oh, you probably just think that because I haven't been giving you a vocal butt-kicking lately," smirked Skullette, shaking her head. "I get that everyone can't be me, but jealousy isn't your best color. Look, Hiccup's become better than you. Get over it."

Astrid narrowed her eyes and dropped the stone behind her. "You're close to him these days, like you used to be when we were kids. You'd guess what's up with him," she said. "He's been acting weird. Well, weirder than normal. And right when all this weird stuff is going on, the raids stop, Hiccup's sudden _ly g_ ood at training, and all the dragons in the arena disappear. You're smart, and I can tell you want to get to the bottom of this as much as I do."

"I'm just helping him figure out the ropes. That's all," Skullette said matter-of-factly, though she added a note of uncertainty in her tone to make it sound more believable that she had no idea what was up. Like she was actually pondering over the facts as well. To sell it, she trailed off, biting her lip, then abruptly said, "It doesn't really matter, okay. I don't know everything that goes on in his life. Hiccup has always been weird. It's just who he is."

There was the sound of Astrid's feet as she jumped off the boulder. Skullette held her hands to her side as she began twisting her ring again though her face didn't betray any nervousness. Branches snapped behind her, and her head whipped around to the sound, knowing who it was. Astrid started after it, but Skullette stopped her. "I don't think that's the best idea. Sometimes there are dragons out here," she mumbled.

"Let them come," shot back Astrid. Following after to the source of the noise, Skullette silently prayed to any gods listening that Hiccup had more sense than to stay where he was. Judging by Astrid's sudden gasp of shock, he didn't.

"Get down!" Astrid screamed, her axe at the ready and aimed at the Night Fury bounding toward her. "Run! Run!"

"No!" Quickly, Hiccup stood between the two, keeping them away from one another. Skullette grabbed hold of Astrid's from behind her so Hiccup wouldnt get hurt in the crossfire.

"Let's stop here before someone gets hurt," she hissed, tearing Astrid's axe away.

"Easy. She's a friend," Hiccup told Toothless.

"Sort of," added Skullette with a careless shrug.

"You scared him," Hiccup explained.

"I scared _him_?" demanded Astrid, tensing up. "Who is him?"

"Well, you're going to learn just what our little fishbone has been up to since you're so curious," Skullette remarked, tossing Astrid's axe away without carrying where it landed. "Hiccup, why don't you tell her?"

"Yes, well, thanks for throwing me under the cart," he mumbled sarcastically. "Astrid, Toothless. Toothless, Astrid." Despite sensing the tense atmosphere, the Fury growled at the blonde.

Shaking her head at Hiccup, Astrid turned and ran. "Duh, duh, duh, we're dead," Hiccup said flatly. Toothless huffed, then turned and sauntered away. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, where do you think you're going?!"

"Well, that's it," snorted Skullette. "I'd love to see the odds of how this would end. Which aren't exactly in our favor."

"Leave it to us," Hiccup said simply before running after his dragon. At that, the dark-skinned girl sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

Under her breath, Skullette muttered, "Concern only slightly lessens."


	16. Chapter 16

Toothless' feelings toward Astrid were mixed, almost like they were for Hiccup's friend. The difference was at times, Skullette would seem okay, but then she'd say something like she'd said a few moments ago. In this girl's case, while Toothless knew she was scared, it couldn't possibly make up for what she'd done. From listening to the conversation between Hiccup and Skullette, Astrid had insulted Hiccup on multiple occasions and practically tried to kill him multiple times, not to mention she attacked Night more times than he could count. And now she was running off to tell the village about him.

He finally decided he mostly hated her at this moment.

Hiccup eventually got him to go after her, and they found her sprinting through the forest. She leapt from a log, and Toothless took the opportunity to swoop in and snatched her mid-jump by the shoulders. Of course, she then started screaming.

"AHH! Oh, great Odin's ghost," she whimpered. "Oh, this is it!" And she continued to scream until Toothless dropped her on the top branch of a tall tree, landing on the tip himself, preventing her from simply falling to the ground from branch. "HICCUP!" she shrieked. Her voice was giving Toothless a headache. "Get me down from here!"

"You have to give me a chance to explain," Hiccup said desperately.

"I am _not_ listening to _anything_ you have to say!"

"Then I won't speak. Just let me show you."

Astrid looked at him skeptically before glancing down nervously at the distance between her and the ground. She pulled herself up, swatting Hiccup's hand away as she mounted the dragon. "Now, get me down," she ordered.

"Toothless, down. _Gently_ ," added Hiccup pointedly. Toothless spread his wings, catching a nice breeze. "See? Nothing to be afraid of."

Oh, there's something to be afraid of, alright, the Night Fury thought to himself.

He pushed his wings down hard and rocketed up into the air so fast he felt Astrid slip back in the saddle. While he could barely hear her screaming, she must've been deafening Hiccup. Toothless couldn't help but grin to himself. Hiccup's voice finally drifted over to him, completing a sentence he hadn't heard him begin.

"-with you! Bad dragon!" Hiccup chuckled nervously and Toothless rolled his eyes. Ha, haha, he's, uh, he's not usually like this-"

Toothless tipping his wing to the right, and Astrid started screaming again. "Oh, no," groaned Hiccup. Toothless drove straight down into the water, then back up and back down and back up.

"Toothless, what are you doing?! We _need_ her to _like_ us!" Hiccup shouted desperately. He, of course, ignored him, although it did amuse him. Spinning as fast as he could, Toothless shot up straight into the air. "And now the spinning." Hiccup sounded more exasperated and resigned than annoyed at this point. "Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile."

Next up, Toothless did a series of spins and flips. "Okay!" Astrid screeched. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Just get me off of this thing!"

There was no way she could know everything she was apologizing for, but he knew that was the best he could get out of her. He glanced back and saw her face buried into Hiccup's back. Right when they were about to hit the water again, Toothless spread his wings and began a steady ascent into the clouds.

As the day wore on, Hiccup didn't make any move to steer them back toward land. Toothless noticed light through the clouds, and then a break from the white just ahead. He headed for it, knowing the view of nighttime Berk to be a beautiful thing. The clouds disappeared, and the faraway lights shone back on his two riders. He grinned back at them and decided that maybe taking Astrid for a ride wasn't such a bad thing after all.

Toothless briefly remembered going this same route with Night. There had to be a reason Night had left without telling him.

Passing the two Viking statues standing guard over Berk, Toothless began regaining altitude. As they left Berk, Astrid sighed. "Alright, I admit it. This is pretty cool. It's...amazing. He's amazing," she added, leaning up to pat him.

"So what now?" asked Astrid.

Hiccup sighed.

Then Astrid seemed to piece it together. "Hiccup, I've only seen one other Night Fury," she said. "Is this the Night Rider's dragon?"

After a moment, Hiccup nodded. "He was hurt, and I had to help him," he explained carefully, hoping she'd understand. "They've both been staying in the forest. The Night Rider, I know you have a thing against him, but he, um, disappeared, and the next thing we know, all the dragons in the arena are gone."

"He freed them," Astrid concluded. "And Stoick's going to figure it out soon."

"But he left, without Toothless," Hiccup said. "You've seen him all these years. They're never apart if they can help it. He didn't have to leave, but he did. There...there had to be another reason for it."

"Hiccup, what other reason could there be?" she pressed. "What have any of us ever understood about him? I mean, he was raised by dragons, taught by them, he's fought by them, and he's not just like them; he _is_ one of them."

Hiccup shrugged. "I-I don't know," he answered honestly. Suddenly, something reached Toothless' ears, hearing the queen's call. Her eerie song lured him to dive down into a fog bank.

"Toothless, what's happening?" Hiccup questioned, noticing other dragons flying in around them. "Get down," he ordered quietly as he pushed himself against the Night Fury, Astrid pushing herself down against him.

"What's going on?" hissed Astrid, fear evident in her voice.

"I don't know. Toothless, you got to get us out of here, bud," he said, placing a hand I his dragon's cheek, but he shook it off. Hiccup glanced at one drawing carrying something in its claws. "It looks like they're hauling in their kill."

Astrid didn't seem to like that answer. "Uh, what does that make us?" she replied nervously.

A Zippleback locked their eyes with the two, and Toothless started to dive down. As they exited the fog, a huge mountain loomed before them. Toothless knew this island too well ,and regretted coming back here. Still, he had to follow the other dragons in order to not raise suspicion.

They kept flying, and as they went got closer to the mountain, they passed through a cave, lit from the inside bright red. Dragons circled around a huge, foggy pit, dropping their food in.

"What my dad wouldn't give to find this," muttered Hiccup, looking around. Toothless split from the pack and banked sharply to the right, coming around to land in the shadows behind a pillar of rock. The three watched warily as all the dragons passed by. "Oh, it's satisfying to know that all our food is being dumped down a hole."

"They're not eating any of it," Astrid pointed out.

A Gronkle was one of the last to appear, and Toothless got a flashback to the last time this happened. The Gronkle hovered to the center of the pit, almost struggling to stay in the air before regurgitating a single, tiny fish. A furious grunt came from the pit, and the Gronkle, suddenly terrified, tried to fly away as fast as possible, but the queen came up from within and swallowed it whole.

Each and every dragon in the nest recoiled, including Toothless, but he couldn't go far. The queen had already sensed him there, and it wouldn't be long before she also smelled his two human passengers. Hiccup and Astrid leaned back as far as they could manage.

 _"It's you,"_ Toothless heard a dragon whisper. He looked around to see a mother Nadder with her hatchlings. _"I was so worried for you. Night came back without you."_

 _"Where is he?_ " inquired Toothless, looking about for his human brother. He was nowhere to be found. Who could tell what his punishment would be this time. Each time he disobeyed or upset their queen, it was different.

 _"The torture cave."_ His worse fears were confirmed. _"He stopped screaming a while ago, and he hasn't come out yet."_ Without thinking, Toothless darted away to the cave. Hiccup tried to hiss for him to stop and slow down, but the dragon rushed inside the cave.

Toothless stopped to find a horrible sight. From behind Hiccup, Astrid gasped. Hiccup couldn't stop staring, and quickly dismounted Toothless to get a closer look. There laid the Night Rider in a pool of his own blood, the scent of burning flesh filling his nostrils. Deep gashes marred his back that had to be claw marks. No doubt a Monstrous Nightmare had done this job while lit.

Said Nightmare was hidden in a dark corner. Toothless knew him. He was a father of newborn hatchlings and had a mate. He knew he was probably threatened to do this or risk losing his family. At the sight of the Night Fury, the Nightmare looked near tears.

 _"I'm so sorry...I'm so, so_ _sorry_ ," he apologized. _"Fury...Night...I'm so sorry..."_

"What happened?" Hiccup burst out, kneeling beside the bloody boy. The Night Rider looked up at him through unfocused, half-lidded eyes in confusion, wondering if he was an illusion. He glanced at Toothless, and they had a small, strange conversation.

Night gave a weary smile on his face, trying to hide the pain. _"It's okay. I'm alright."_

He was clearly nowhere near okay. Normally, Night would be nursing his own wounds by now. In his current state, though, his wounds would gradually turn into something far worse if untreated. He needed help and he needed it _soo_ n.

"I-I don't get it," said Astrid, getting off Toothless. Despite her previous dislike of him, she was shocked to see him in such a state. "He's an equal here, living among all these dragons. Why would they hurt him this badly especially if they need him?"

"I don't know, but we need to get him to a healer." Hiccup was already struggling to lift up Night with Toothless' help. He cried out in pain with every movement, making Hiccup wince. "Help me."

"Why?" Astrid asked. That question stumped Hiccup, but he didn't pause in his efforts. Why _did_ he care so much?

"I don't think it matters. Just help me, please," he pleaded, barely able to support the older boy despite his lanky build. Astrid simply nodded and copied Hiccup, except she took most of the weight, careful to avoid the wounds on his back.

The sight of the cove was one that made Hiccup feel more relieved than he had in a long time. The Night Rider wasn't faring well so far. He looked half-dead, his skin white as snow. He looked so small, weak, defenseless.

Skullette was sitting on the ground with her legs crossed, staring at the ring on her hand as she twisted it. She was speaking to someone sitting next to her though the words couldn't be heard. She looked up at the sound of Toothless' wings flapping furiously in a hurry, and despite being unable to properly see the situation, she could tell it was from the sound of the dragon's rushed movements. She stood up, staring at Hiccup without seeing.

Once they slowed down to land, neither Astrid or Hiccup stopped to worry about the other person there. "What happened?" Skullette asked.

"He's hurt badly," Hiccup said, out of breath as he and Astrid hauled Night off Toothless. The dragon hovered over him protectively.

"Night Rider?" Sitting back down as they laid him on the floor as gently as possibly, she gently ran her fingers over the wounds. She whistled. "Okay. This is bad."

"What are you going to do?" questioned Astrid. "You-you can't take him back to the village because they'll let him die or execute him. And if you leave him here, he'll bleed to death or get those injuries infected."

"That does seem a lose-lose situation," mused Skullette aloud, then she turned to look at the boy she was talking to earlier behind her. He had a light brown complexion with amber eyes, wild dark brown hair about his face. "Wren!" she shouted, catching the boy's attention. He winced at her loud voice, but knelt beside her, grabbing a satchel around his waist.

"Who's this?" Astrid demanded instantly. Hiccup couldn't blame her. Outsiders were always looked upon with suspicion at first, especially those unfamiliar.

"A friend of mine," snapped Skullette. "Either way, it doesn't matter right now."

"I can help." The rough Scottish accent on the strange boy's tongue reminded Hiccup of his father's. "In my village, the healer's taken care of worse injuries. I learned a bit from her. I'm Wrenlou. Don't ask questions, just go along with it."

Hiccup simply nodded, recalling Skull's words from earlier. Wrenlou took out a clean cloth from his satchel and looked about at the two Berkians before him, then softly muttered dragon noises. "What is that?" Hiccup inquired curiously.

"Dragonese," answered Skullette for Wrenlou. "I don't understand it but he does. And whatever happened to no questions?"

Sensing this wasn't the best time, Hiccup backed off the topic. Either way, whatever the outsider had said, it calmed Night. Wrenlou placed the cloth into his mouth to keep him quiet.

"Now, this won't hurt a bit," Wren said before starting to work on cleaning his wounds. Instantly, the Night Rider started thrashing about, crying out, causing Skullette to order Astrid to hold him down. His eyes were open but he was blind with pain.

By the time, it was over, Wrenlou looked for something else to use. "I've never seem him in person," he murmured. He sounded almost awestruck. "A living legend among my people. Amazing."

Legend. That's what Wrenlou called him. Whereas Hiccup had learned to acknowledge him as a cautionary tale. Groaning, the Night Rider struggled to sit up, but without even looking, Skullette pushed him back down, not at all gently like everyone else was treating him.

"Yeah, don't strain yourself," she said despite knowing he wouldn't understand her. Wrenlou repeated what she said to Night in his native tongue, but he continued attempting to get up. Thankfully, he barely had the strength to fight.

"I only cleaned him up, but I can't do much more than that," explained Wrenlou. "For that, you need a real healer. And I think you've already discussed that option." He took out something from under his shirt and started fidgeting with it nervously. "I can try my best, though."

"Thanks." Skullette stood up and touched his shoulder. "I owe you."

"Are you kidding me? I owe you!" he exclaimed. "Who else in my tribe can say they saved the Night Rider?"

She grinned down at him with a playful roll of the eyes. "Come on. Is it dark out yet?" She looked to Hiccup for the answer.

"Yeah, it's already sundown," supplied Astrid.

"Then we better get going," Skull sighed. "Wren and Toothless can stay with him for now." She started off, then paused. Turning back around to face Hiccup, her expression apologetic. "And while we're at it, I think there's something I should've told you a while ago."


	17. Chapter 17

Walking down the familiar path, Skullette didn't need much help getting back. She'd walked it so many times she practically knew it like the back of her hand.

"Is anyone going to explain what happened there?" Astrid asked, keeping up with the dark-skinned girl.

"Oh, um, is this something I need to spell out for you," Skullette sighed, speaking her next words slowly as if talking to someone stupid. "See, you made the dragon all mad, and then-"

"Not what she was talking about," interrupted Hiccup before a fight broke out among the girls. "We just want to know what _you're_ talking about."

"In all honesty, it's about you, not her. It's really none of her business in the first place," huffed Skullette. "I mean, saying this alone could get me in a lot of trouble."

"I'm already in this mess with you two now, so I won't tell," Astrid insisted.

Twisting her mouth in a grimace, Skullette huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Fine, fine," she finally snapped." But if either of you say it was me who told you, I'll rip out your tongues and beat you with it." And with that threat hanging in the air, she said, "The chief doesn't really like talking about it. It's a very touchy subject with him. Just mentioning it could get you tied to a mast and shipped off."

"I don't get it," said Hiccup.

"Well, even my friends around the island know it. Especially after you were born, it was all our parents could talk about, as long as it wasn't in front of your father of course," Skull explained, ignoring that she was clarifying nothing whatsoever. "And I told Autumn my theory a while ago. They all guessed it, but I'm the one who actually did the math. My biggest guess is that the chief is so desperate not to believe it that's he's blind to the facts."

"To _what?_ " She was still ignoring Hiccup, shaking her head occasionally.

"Okay, seventeen years ago, something happened in this village that no one talks about specifically. I vaguely remember my dad sometimes talking to your dad whenever he got worried about you," she continued, pacing back and forth. At this point, Hiccup was just waiting for her to cut to the point.

"Can we get the short version?" he asked.

"This is the short version. The long version would take about at least thirty minutes to explain. Anyway, so they were talking, and I remember them talking about how it wouldn't happen again so there was nothing to worry about. At first, I thought 'it' was what happened with your mom. When she got snatched and taken away. But my dad said it was more than that. Stoick didn't want to lose you like he lost his firstborn. He didn't want history repeating itself or anything."

Hiccup furrowed his eyebrows. "I don't-"

"Everyone my age knows about it. And I know all the adults do, too," she went on, feverishly twisting the ring around her finger. "So, apparently, seventeen years ago, there was a raid soon after the chief's son was born. I was probably only a few months old at the time. Your mother took the baby and went out to hide in a cave because it was too dangerous to stay nearby. But after the raid was over, neither had come back. Stoick found his wife...but not his son. Everyone searched high and low for him yet no one ever found him. When your parents finally called off the search, they all agreed the dragons must've snatched him up and ate him. It was probably simpler that way than to go on without closure.

"My father said that he had the same feeling about you that he did that boy two years ago when you were born. He said that despite how weak and frail you appeared, you would be a great warrior, a chief that would put his people before his own."

"You're sure we're talking about the same Hiccup?" Astrid asked, pointing to the talking fishbone beside her.

"Do you want me to deliver on that threat early, or do you want me to finish the story?" Skullette warned. Glowering at her, Astrid backed down. No one except her ever dared to threaten Astrid. Even when she'd been on top of the teens in fighting and dragon know-how, the dark-skinned viking always knew how to take her down a peg whenever she started getting all high and mighty. "So, yeah, everyone thought he was dead, right? But who else fits the age and has displayed those traits?"

"Someone who's a strong warrior and leader who puts his people before himself," Astrid said slowly, the information taking a moment to register. When it did, her eyes widened and she turned to Skull. "Oh my gods! You mean-"

"Yes," Skullette answered for her simply, knowing the full question before she even asked it.

"That means-"

"Yup."

Astrid pointed at Hiccup with an utterly incredulous expression, her eyes practically bulging out of her head. "So you mean to tell me-"

"Yes."

"And you-"

"Just told you that."

"So basically-"

"Yeah."

"I cannot believe this!" Astrid shouted, pacing around back and forth in a circle after Skullette blocked her attempt to head towards the village. "You really think so?! You seriously think so?!"

"Wouldn't be telling you this if I didn't," snorted Skullette matter-of-factly. "I did the math, once again. I mean, he fits the age group, in a way he resembles the chief in terms of stubbornness and that violent streak, and there's just something about him that reminds of him. I'd say take off his mask to see if he resembles anyone, but I don't think you'd like losing a hand."

"But why...How...Huh?!" Astrid could hardly even form a complete sentence.

"You know, I expected this from him but not from you," Skullette chuckled, shaking her head at her.

"What are you two even talking about?" Hiccup finally snapped.

"Long story short," Skullette explained, biting her lip. After a moment of trying to find out how to drop this on her friend as gently as possible, she could only come up with was, "See, you're not an only child, you had a brother who was taken away by dragons a while back, and I think he may or may not still be alive."

"What? Where?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Hiccup," Astrid said slowly, still sounding like This was a bit too much for her to take in at once. "She's saying he was here all this time. Every. Single. Raid, he was _here_."

"What? How could I have a brother who's been here after seventeen years and no one's ever noticed..." He trailed off as it hit him. "You mean..."

Skullette nodded. "I wanted to tell you before about it a while back when I figured it out, but back then I thought you had enough to worry about."

"You had plenty of times!" exclaimed Hiccup.

"Blame your dad, not me," she snapped. "He's the one who decided not to tell you, and Gobber could've told you but didn't. Stoick also has no problem being determined to bring down the Night Fury who took him."

Hiccup was running a hand through his hair, trying to take it in. For the last six years, Stoick, his own father, had met his brother, fought him, watched him in rage as he rode atop what he called Satan's spawn. His father's enemy, Astrid's previous enemy, Night Rider, was none other than his brother.

* * *

 _"Relax, okay. You need to relax and rest,"_ the strange boy said as he bound the gashes on Night's back. _"If you try to get up you'll only strain yourself."_

 _"I can take care of myself,"_ Night snapped, trying to sit up, but Toothless only pushed him back down like the girl had earlier, except more gently. Night vaguely remembered what went on when he was still in pain. Everything was all so confusing. The blonde girl who had always fought him now helped him, and rode atop his brother beside the boy. Now here a human was healing his wounds and could actually speak his dragon tongue without so much as a single mistake.

 _"Night,"_ Toothless warned in a low growl. _"Just do what he says."_ He could tell he was mad for leaving him behind, but Night didn't want him to take any part in whatever punishment the queen made up for him.

The boy had amber eyes, but on second glance, Night could see that the pupils occasionally switched between slit, thin pupils, and dilating into normal. His dark brown hair was nearly as long and as untamed as Night's own, except he seemed to have allowed it to reach his shoulders. He wore a simple red tunic, brown leggings beneath tucked into moccasin-like boots. Around his neck hung a ring with a small pink stone in the center that strangely looked familiar, a small chain going through it. When the light reflected off it, red shimmering dots were cast along the ground.

 _"Agreed,"_ the boy muttered. _"Besides, I'm keeping these from getting infected so mind showing a bit of gratitude?"_ Night didn't answer, only wincing when the boy touched his injured arm. _"This isn't healing properly. Mind? It won't hurt a bit."_ Of course this time, he didn't bother waiting for Night to answer, instead just gently grabbing his arm, and jerked the bone into place with a snap.

Night hissed in pain, but he had dealt with higher degrees of pain and knew better than to complain. He could only watch as he put his arm in a makeshift sling.

 _"I lied,"_ the boy remarked with an innocent shrug once he noted Night's pained expression. When Night tried to sit up again, he rolled his eyes yet let him be all the same. Though he drew the line at standing. _"I'm going to guess you won't stop. Okay, what could possibly be more important than your health?"_

 _"He probably thinks he's wasted too much time here,"_ explained Toothless. Night narrowed his eyes, not liking how his dragon so easily spilled out his thoughts. He always had to know what Night was thinking. _"As much as he hates her, he's loyal to our queen."_

 _"I just follow orders to stay alive,"_ shot back Night, turning his head away from his brother's gaze. _"Not to mention to keep everyone else safe."_

 _"And how's that working out for you?"_ the boy wryly chuckled.

 _"My family are the dragons, the nest is my home. I cannot, will not leave them,"_ Night spat at the human. _"Not now, not ever."_ The boy held up his hands in defense, his pupils momentarily turning to slits before returning to normal.

 _"Okay, I've stepped on a nerve,"_ he said calmly. _"At least tell me what happened to you? Who's this queen of yours?"_

Night turned to Toothless, sharing an uneasy look. Finally, he turned back to the human. _"She's...our leader who lives at the nest. She's even more ruthless than a human ruler. She demands we raid the villages for food. If we don't bring back enough, she uses us for food instead."_

The human tilted his head curiously. _"Raids? Skullette told me about them, why these Vikings hate dragons. You're stealing food from them, and they think you're the bad guys, but you're really just...trying to survive?"_ he asked.

 _"Who?"_

 _"The girl who keeps coming back with Hiccup,"_ his brother clarified. _"The blind girl."_

 _"She's blind?"_

 _"She acts like it,"_ Toothless said. Suddenly, all those times came back to Night, her seemingly staring at him without seeing, her peculiar sense of hearing that rivaled his own, her scarred eyes. It all made so much sense he almost felt stupid for not realizing it before.

 _"I don't remember ever seeing you here during those raids,"_ Night said slowly, staring at the human boy with inhuman eyes who could speak the dragon tongue.

 _"I'm not from around here. Name's Wrenlou,"_ he greeted, sticking out his hand. Night glared at it until Wrenlou pulled it back. _"The stories really weren't kidding when they said you despise and distrust most humans. Is he always like this?"_ That question was directed at Toothless, the Night Fury having an almost annoyed look as he glanced at Night.

 _"You have no idea. He's too stubborn for his own good,"_ he snorted.

 _"Am not,"_ snapped Night, narrowing his eyes.

 _"Are too."_

 _"I have to agree with the dragon,"_ Wrenlou commented. _"And before you snap at me again, I'd like to remind you that like it or not, I did just save you a whole lot of trouble, so I'd really appreciate it if you stopped looking at me like I were scum on the bottom of your boot."_

For a moment, Night was quiet, then he mumbled through gritted teeth, _"Sorry."_

Wrenlou glanced at Toothless. _"That's the most you're getting. I'm still working on him."_

 _"Either way, it's a start,"_ beamed Wrenlou, clapping his hands together. _"So tell me, what did happen to you? If the queen did this to you, why don't you just leave?"_

 _"She didn't do this to me directly,"_ Night corrected with a sigh, resigned. _"She just ordered another dragon to do it. We'd all gladly leave but her hold on us is too strong to break. We're her servants, warriors, and meals if we disobey or displease her in any way. This is my punishment for being away so long. If Toothless had come with me, his punishment probably would've been to watch."_

For a split second, Wrenlou's eyes flashed with anger, his pupils thinning to slits again before they calmed. _"I'm sorry,"_ he said sincerely.

 _"Why? You're human so why don't you just hate me like the rest of them do?"_ Night demanded.

 _"That's like asking why your brother's new buddy keeps helping you no matter how much you seem to reject it,"_ he shot back. _"And the answer's pretty simple. We're different from them. On my island, we would only ever kill a dragon if there were no other option, if we felt in danger. But you remind me of my brother Broghan because you think the same way he does. That humans are vile creatures who don't deserve a chance, and that they're all the same, but it doesn't have to be that way. I mean, what separates us from humans and dragons other than our appearances? We practically think the same from opposite sides of the battlefield, don't we? My people just prefer not to participate in that battle."_

 _"Really?"_ Night raised an eyebrow in confusion. _"But I thought all Vikings are warriors. "_

 _"They are, but my people have seen more than enough battles and fights to be through with them. They have had enough,"_ Wrenlou said, sounding both furious and sad at the same time. Judging from that, it was clear he'd had this argument before. _"And I've seen half of my village be_ _slaughtered_ , _the other half running and hiding, very few actually fighting and surviving. Since then, they've all become too scared to even attempt to make things change. Besides, I don't want to fight people; I don't even want to be a hero if it means hurting others. I just want to help."_

 _"Yeah, and that would be great if they deserved our help,"_ argued Night. _"A three century war doesn't go away. It's just not possible."_

 _"But what if you just tried?"_ Wrenlou questioned. _"What if you just tried to convince them that what they're doing is wrong? If they just listened and understood, things might change. Humans are good, and it has to be this war clouding their judgement. Not all of them are bad."_ His statement was so determined, so certain Night would've almost believed him if he hadn't seen all he had in the past six years since he'd gone out from the nest for the first time. While he was human himself he didn't consider associating himself with them.

Always caught in the middle, thought Night grimly. Not accepted by his own species, yet yelled at for protecting the one who saw him as their own. Not even trusted by some wild dragons because he looked like the same men who'd trapped them minutes earlier.

 _"Have you been living under a rock all these years?"_ Night snorted. _"Obviously you wouldn't say something like that if you knew."_

 _"No,"_ he snapped, sounding defensive. _"There's nothing wrong with seeing the best in people."_

Night gave a dark chuckle. _"There are exceptions, but no one can change that much, whether this war ends or not."_

* * *

"Hiccup, don't do anything stupid," Skullette called after the smaller viking. He didn't stop on his way back home.

"I just need to talk with him," he said simply. Astrid walked up to him.

"I don't think now is the best time to bring this up," she said. "The chief's already upset, and something tells me he won't like finding out you already know. He probably just didn't want you to grow up feeling like a replacement."

"Yeah, and being a screw-up feels so much better," Hiccup retorted bitterly. "Great to know that the whole time I was growing up, my father was thinking that if his other son was still here, he'd finally have an heir to be proud of. But instead he was stuck with me."

"Skull didn't tell you this to make you feel bad." The two stopped at the door. "She told you this to tell you the truth."

"This is still something I think we need to talk about. I won't tell him who told me, but I do have to tell him the truth," sighed Hiccup. "I mean, hopefully, the only worse case scenario is that he won't believe me. Not like he ever does listen to me, but maybe he will for once."

Skullette hung back, twisting her ring so hard it was surprising it hadn't come off as she started walking back to her empty, silent house. Her long bangs hid the worry in her eyes. Traditions passed through generations or claims on who their masked friend was? Either way, whichever were chosen, the result wouldn't end well.

(Author's note: Yeah, this chapter sucks and I'm not that proud of it, but at least I updated. Also, I'm not sure whether you guys like this new character or not. Anyone, later! 😊)


	18. Chapter 18

Hiccup walked in to see his father sitting in the comfort of his favorite chair while apparently waiting for his son to come home. It was all becoming clear to Hiccup now: the overprotectiveness, the constant disappointment, the high expectations despite his failures...the proudness when it seemed he was a true Viking after all. He supposed he could be a little easier on Stoick. After all, these years must've been hard on him, having lost a wife and a son, even worse for the only one left being...well, like him. Hiccup knew he probably had a rough time facing other tribes and seeing their _perfect heirs_ while knowing had fate been different he'd have one of his own instead of the one the gods stuck him with.

Bitterness crept into his thoughts before he could stop it. He swallowed back the ugly feeling.

For a moment, not for the first time had he imagined what it would've been like had he grown up with an older sibling. Not because he'd finally might have had a human companion who was not only in bond but in blood, but because then everything would've been better off that way. Thinking of growing up with the Night Rider as a brother, Hiccup could clearly see how that would play out.

His father would have been able to focus on running the village, able to relax since there would be someone to keep Hiccup in line. The firstborn would be the obvious next heir, and he'd become the pride of Berk if his reputation as the Night Rider meant anything, with his fighting skills and such. Hiccup would be the support from the background and stuck in the shadows, simply there to aggravate Astrid and for the twins and Snotlout to pick on. On one hand, that scenario may be worse than the one in this destiny the gods picked out for both of them, but at the same time it would mean all the expectations would shift from him and he wouldn't feel as much pressure to be a _real_ Viking. He would be able to run away without anyone giving a second thought about him or where he went.

Then again, in that scenario, if Night were half as stubborn as he were now, (which he probably would be), he would probably be the same person except from the other side of the tracks. Known not as a traitor to man but as a dragon killer. Who knows, though? Who could ever know what might have been if things had happened differently?

"Dad," greeted Hiccup simply. "I think we need to talk."

"Son," Stoick responded, sighing to himself, "I understand you're upset. Robbed of your chance to kill the Nightmare in front of the whole village by that fiend." The acidness in his tone almost made Hiccup contemplate that plan of running away.

"It-it's nothing, really," reassured Hiccup, stammering out his words. Hopefully he didn't sound _too_ relieved. "I'll get over it."

"That wretched fool of a boy," huffed Stoick. "We've lost a good amount of dragons because of him. The day we finally have our hands on him, he'll be sentence to death for being both a thief and a traitor."

"Sounds a bit harsh, don't you think?" Hiccup chuckled nervously. "Seems funny that you mention him because I was thinking...theoretically, what would you say if I told you that I may or may not know something about that?"

Instantly, Stoick turned his gaze to his son with suspicious eyes. "I'd say that you might as well tell me now so we can do away with that nuisance once and for all," he said firmly.

"Dad, I think we need to talk. And actually talk, not just where I'm talking but you're not listening to anything I'm saying while having a basically one-sided conversation with yourself." Hiccup walked up to his father, choosing his words carefully. Either his dad would take this well, or everything Hiccup had done would go down the drain and he'd saved his new brother only to deliver him straight into a deathtrap. "This is going to take a lot of explaining from both of us. I haven't been completely honest with you. And you haven't been honest with me either, so I think we're even."

"Hiccup, what are you talking about?"

"First of all, I know I had a brother," Hiccup went on as he took a deep breath. "I know he was taken by dragons, like my mom?" His father's face paled, and something flashed across it, though it passed quickly, his face becoming like his name, stoic. Suddenly, Hiccup remembered what Skullette told him Stoick's usual reaction whenever his lost child was brought up.

"I knew she would've told you at some point," Stoick sighed _,_ more resigned them upset. "Back when you were nothing but little ones, she could barely keep anything from you. Asair, her own father, couldn't tell her anything out of fear she'd tell you private matters." Hiccup didn't need to ask who _she_ was. Skullette had always been a bit of a gossip when she was little, one big bouncing ball of energy. That energy had, of course, dimmed at eleven once most of her sight was lost.

"Skull didn't tell me." His voice betrayed him, giving way to his guilt. He had never been able to lie well on the spot. Then he stood his ground, looking his dad on the eyes. "And if she did, it wouldn't really matter. Because it was supposed to be you who told me. Because I just found out that practically everyone in the village, but me and a few others, knew."

Stoick gave another sigh, rubbing a hand over his face. "It's been so long. Taran was just a baby. Barely any older than you were when your mother was taken."

"His name was...Taran?" asked Hiccup slowly. At least now he was finally able to put a name to the face. Although he still couldn't help but call him the Night Rider in his head. That was just the way it was. He'd never be "Taran" to him. Even thinking it felt weird and wrong.

"Yes. Your mother was heartbroken after it happened." Stoick's mind went back to that night all those years ago as he finally explained it all to his son _._

" _Valka!"_

 _Stoick searched the whole island after another night of raiding. His wife and newborn son had headed_ t _o the cave to hide. Once the raid was over, those tha_ t hid report _ed that neither had come with them. They were still out there._

 _Searching high and low, Stoick fina_ _lly_ _found hi_ s _wife on her knees. He ran to her aid, thinking she was hurt._

 _"Valka!" He knelt in front of her to find her crying._

 _"He's gone. Our son...he's gone," Valka sobbed. At this, Stoick's composure fell apart as he held her tightly._

 _Although his frailty said otherwise, Stoick had believed his good friend Asair's words. The boy would live to be a great warrior, a leader who puts others before himself. He had said something else, but Stoick hadn't believed him; he'd even been rather outraged at Asair's foretelling. But thinking back on it now, maybe he should've believed him then since now that future was_ _destroyed._

 _Was it a punishment from the gods? A sick joke made by Loki? Valka clung to him as she called out for their son as if he would come crawling out from the forest with a goofy smile on his face. A hope to never come._

"I never wanted you to have that burden on your shoulders," sighed Stoick, coming out of the memory. He looked down at the table. "For a long time until you were born, vengeance was all I thought about. It was one of the main reasons I started searching for the dragon's nest. All these years and I'm not even close." He took a deep breath, closing his eyes briefly before opening them again. "I guess I should've known. Asair, bless his soul, told me the boy would never live to become chief. Just the way of things, I suppose."

Where Hiccup had been somber and quiet throughout listening to his father go on, at this, he tensed up. Was he really willing to take a risk and dig this up when it was clear he was about as over this as he was with the disappearance of Hiccup's mother, which is to say not at all. "About that...here's where I come in," he spoke up, earning a suspicious look from Stoick. "This is where _I_ have not been entirely truthful. See, remember that time I told you I shot down a Night Fury?"

"I thought we were past that mishap," said Stoick, his expression growing annoyed and resigned.

"Remember what I said about us actually talking? Well now's that time. I'd actually like to get out an explanation before you cut me off or anything." Hiccup rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "See, I actually _did_ hit him. I shot him down and everything. I even...ended up taking one of his tailfins." He put his head down, the guilt surging again. Then he brought himself back to the present and looked at his dad's perplexed expression. "I even have proof! Look." He ran up to his room where he'd left his journal and hurried back down, opening it up to one of his sketches of Toothless.

"See?" _Just this once, let him listen,_ he prayed silently to any gods listening. Hiccup held it out for Stoick to see. "I...I was going to kill him and bring you back his heart, but I couldn't do it. That's why I didn't want to kill dragons that day you put me in dragon training. I _knew_ I couldn't do it."

"How could you get this close?" Stoick muttered, looking through the sketches.

"After that, we became friends," Hiccup went on, waiting for his dad's reaction. "What I used for training was just a bunch of tricks that I learned from-from Toothless."

"Friends? You named it?" The growing anger in Stoick's voice set Hiccup on edge but he continued on.

"Just listen to me explain," he pleaded.

"I thought we had a deal!"

"That was before everything!" Hiccup shouted back. He'd never stood up to his father this way, and he couldn't stop now. "All this messed up stuff." He ran his hands through his hair as he stammered through his explanation. "Look, just try to listen to me for once, just this once, and you'll never hear me ask for anything else again! The dragons, they're only defending themselves, and the Night Rider, he's only doing what he has to to keep them safe. They raid us because they need the food. They don't bring back enough food, they become food. There's...something else on their island, Dad." Stoick's face lit up in realization. "It's a dragon like I've never-"

"You've been to the nest?" Stoick interrupted, his voice nearly a whisper.

As Hiccup stared up at his father's suddenly interested eyes, he realized his mistake far too late. Of course it had been hard to catch with all he'd had to understand. "Did I say nest? No, no, I'm pretty sure I did not say nest."

"How?" his father demanded.

"We didn't. Toothless did. Only a dragon can find it." Comprehension dawned on Stoick's face. Hiccup's mistake count went up. He was getting an idea that would surely get him killed. "Dad, please, it's not what you think. You go there and you will have no idea what you're up against. It's like nothing you've ever seen!" Stoick started to get up. Hiccup shook his head frantically, standing in his way. "Dad, please, you can't win this, trust me on that."

Determination was written on Stoick's face as he started towards the doors. "If you're looking for revenge, you won't find it there, I'm telling you. This won't fix anything," Hiccup cried.

"How can I believe you when you've told me yourself you've thrown your lot in with their kind?" his father demanded, glaring down at Hiccup as he shoved him aside. He wasn't sure which was worse, the anger or the touch of disappointment in Stoick's tone. "After everything I've told you, you go and do this!"

Hiccup rushed forward, grabbing hold of his father's arm despite the unlikely chance he had of holding him back. "But you have to understand! Just listen! He's alive!" he shouted, losing all patience in trying to make him understand. He had intended for more of a buildup to that reveal, but drastic times call for drastic measures. If Stoick wouldn't listen, he'd force him to. "Taran, Night, whatever his name is, he's alive! If you won't listen to me, _look_ at him, Dad."

In an instant, the chief's face dissolved into an unreadable expression, and he turned around to grip his shoulders. "Your brother is dead. Has been for a very long time, Hiccup."

"No, he's not," Hiccup said slowly. "He's alive, and maybe you might have realized that before if you had put it all together."

"You're not making any sense, son."

"He's here. Just...follow me." With that, Hiccup darted out the back door, not leaving any room for argument.

* * *

Night held his mask, turning it around in his hand. It was midnight blue and in the shape of a Night Fury's head with diagonal eye slits that did its part in concealing his face whenever he left the nest. If anyone were to see him without it, they'd immediately know who to look for whether the mask was on or not, which left him with a few problems. Either way, he might as well give up with keeping his face hidden since there didn't seem to be much of a happy ending to his story.

He set it down and hissed at the slight movement of the bandages on his back. The burns along with the gashes still hurt, though the pain had dulled a bit. Wrenlou had offered him something in his bag to help, but he'd warned him it would taste horrible, and Night didn't want to owe him any more favors then he already did. Night chuckled to himself humoressly, the things said about him coming back to mind. Too stubborn for his own good, was he? Well, he couldn't even disclaim that.

Wrenlou was skipping rocks on the pond, picking up stones and skipping them before watching them sink into the water. They'd go a short distance, some longer than others, then stop and sink. Night wondered what the point of the game was.

A soft noise alerted Night to something approaching, and he swerved around like a flash. He promptly winced and a moment passed before he could properly register his surroundings. Toothless perked up and looked in the direction as well along with Wrenlou. He tossed the stone in the hands between the left and the right anxiously.

Suddenly, the small human boy came rushing underneath the shield wedged at the entrance. He seemed in a hurry. Night furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. The boy was always calm despite the odds, which in itself was odd considering that any other person would either charge screaming or run away screaming.

He said something in his weird human language, and soon after another person came after him with some difficulty. The second Night saw who it was, he scrambled backward as far as he could and hissed loudly at them. It was the large Viking from the village he'd encountered the last raid he participated in before he and his brother were shot down. They had met each other before that, though, like he had every other human warrior in the village.

Looking between the small and large Vikings, it clicked in Night's head. The boy was the hatchling the large one had been so worried about the last time they'd met. It had been only a matter of time until he'd sell him out.

Hiccup looked down at the Night Rider who was scrambling backward, looking angry yet also frightened, as if he were a cornered wild animal. Toothless growled, but Hiccup held up his hands and reassured him quickly that everything was alright and that he had to trust him. For the first time since they met six years ago when he saved his life, Hiccup could clearly see his face. Of course, at that first meeting, he hadn't hidden his face until afterwards, but it had been dark and there wasn't time to focus with all the other distractions.

The Night Rider had shaggy russet hair that had a more reddish tint than Hiccup's to where it was more a brownish red instead of a reddish brown like his. It was tied in a braid down his back with pieces of string with light green beads hanging off them. His face was tanned and littered with faint freckles, big sky blue eyes darting back and forth between Hiccup and his father. A scar ran through his right eyebrow.

"Hiccup...I don't think you're thinking clearly with all this nonsense," Stoick huffed, sounding exasperated, tired, and angry. "But if this is the Night Rider, he has a death sentence waiting for him back in the village."

Hiccup stood between the two. "Just look at him, Dad. Can't you see it?" he begged.

He slowly stepped away, gauging his father's expression. Despite what he was telling himself, Stoick couldn't tear his eyes away from the young man before him. As he stared at his face, he noticed the details, the similarities. The boy had _his_ brow, the reach of _his_ jaw, and the same curve to _his_ lips. But also Valka's eyes. Those were his wife's eyes staring back at him. Her cheekbones, her nose...

Stoick tried to be discreet when he grabbed onto the nearest rock at his side. A sudden shortness of breath overtook him. He looked at Hiccup with the Night Fury by his side, and then back to the lad who acted like a Night Fury himself. With the bandages and scars on his chest, his left arm held close to his side in a sling, the feral look in his eyes, Stoick wanted to deny this was his lost son from all those years ago, but he couldn't deny the eyes of his lost wife on that face.

A faint memory came to mind of a baby with those exact eyes.

"No," Stoick muttered, his composure falling apart. "It can't be..."

"It is," Hiccup said firmly. "It has to be. Dad, he's the same age he would be, and if he was taken by dragons, maybe he didn't _die_ like you thought."

"I thought he was eaten." Stoick's voice came out in a whisper. "He should've been eaten."

"He wasn't."

Wrenlou walked over to the Night Rider and gently helped him up. Night stumbled on his feet before regaining his footing. "He's hurt, and like I said before, I can keep him comfortable, but you need a real healer for this," he told Hiccup. "I'm still learning my stuff."

Stoick glanced at Hiccup. "Now he's Skullette's secret, not mine," the boy quickly cleared up, holding up his hands. "I met him just now."

"This...This is my son," Stoick mumbled so quietly Hiccup almost didn't hear him. And he tried not to feel a bit hurt by how he said it.

Wrenlou took a moment to translate the events of what just happened, and Night's eyes narrowed. He shook him off and walked with shaky legs to Toothless, placing a hand on his back. _"_ _What's going on?"_ he asked, trusting him most.

Toothless tilted his head to the side before answering, _"Apparently they know you because you came from this island."_ Night's eyebrows furrowed as he looked up at the large man's eyes that were both hopeful and sad. There must have been a story behind them. _"Remember when we were talking about your human family?"_ he asked.

 _"Yes, and I told you I don't have a human family. I only had you and mom,"_ Night said through gritted teeth. He didn't want to remember that, not now. Whoever they were didn't mean much since he wouldn't have changed anything about the night his mother found him for anything. _"What's so important about that now?"_

Toothless nodded over to the two people. _"That's them."_ After a moment of Night staring at him to see if he were joking, Toothless said in a more humorous tone, _"On the bright side, at least we can see befriending dragons runs in the family!"_ Then he looked at the other beside the boy. _"More or less,"_ he grumbled.


End file.
